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By  Archer  Butler  Hulbert 


The  Ohio  River 

A  Course  of  Empire 

Large  Octavo,  with  ioo  Full-page  Illustrations 
and  a  Map.  Net,  Sj.jo.  By  express,  prepaid, 
$3-75 


The  Niagara  River 

Large  Octavo,  with  many  Full-page  Illustrations 
and  Maps.  Net,  Sj.jo.  By  express,  prepaid, 
$3-75  

Q.  P.  Putnam's  Sons 
New  York  London 


^he  Niagara  River 


By 

Archer  Butler  Hulbert 

Professor  of  American  History.  Marietta  College  ;  Author  of  "  The  Ohio  River,' 

"  Historic     Highways    of    America,"      "  Washington    and    the    West"; 

Editor  of  "  The  Crown  Collection  of  American  Maps." 


t  (oSS 


With  Maps  and  Illustrations 


G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons 

New  York  and    London 
Ube  fmfcfeerbocfeer  press 

1908 


^IG95 


Copyright,  igo8 

BY 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 


Ube  Iknfcfcerbocfcer  press,  Hew  H?orfc 


X     \Q 


TO 

HENRY  CARLTON  HULBERT 

IN 

APPRECIATION  OF  ENCOURAGEMENT  AND  FRIENDSHIP 

AND  AS  A  TOKEN  OF 

ESTEEM 


Note 


In  the  endeavour  to  gather  into  one  volume  a  proper  de- 
scription of  the  various  interests  that  centre  in  and  around  the 
Niagara  River  the  author  of  this  book  felt  very  sincerely  the 
difficulties  of  the  task  before  him.  As  the  geologic  wonder  of  a 
continent  and  the  commercial  marvel  of  the  present  century,  the 
Niagara  River  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  streams  in  the  world. 
In  historic  interest,  too,  it  takes  rank  with  any  American  river. 
To  combine,  then,  into  the  pages  of  a  single  volume  a  proper 
treatment  of  this  subject  would  be  a  task  that  perhaps  no  one 
could  accomplish  satisfactorily. 

Works  to  which  the  author  is  most  indebted,  especially 
the  historical  writings  of  Hon.  Peter  A.  Porter,  Severance's  Old 
Trails  of  the  Niagara  Frontier,  The  Niagara  Book,  and  the  writings 
of  the  scholar  of  the  old  New  York  frontier,  the  late  O.  H.  Mar- 
shall, and  the  collections  of  the  historical  societies  along  the 
frontier,  are  indicated  frequently  in  footnotes  and  in  text.  The 
author's  particular  indebtedness  to  Mr.  Porter  is  elsewhere  de- 
scribed; he  is  also  in  the  debt  of  F.  H.  Mautz,  Henry  Gutten- 
stein,  Superintendent  Edward  H.  Perry,  whose  kindness  to  the 
author  was  so  characteristic  of  his  treatment  of  all  comers  to 
the  shrine  over  which  he  presides,  E.  O.  Dunlap,  and  many 
others  mentioned  elsewhere.  He  has  appreciated  Mr.  Howells's 
characteristic  conscientiousness  when  he  wrote  concerning  Ni- 
agara, "I  have  always  had  to  take  myself  in  hand, to  shake  my- 
self up,  to  look  twice,  and  recur  to  what  I  have  heard  and 
read  of  other  people's  impressions,  before  I  am  overpowered  by 
it.  Otherwise  I  am  simply  charmed."  The  author  has  laboured 
under  the  difficulty  of  attempting  to  remain  "overpowered" 
during  a  period  of  several  years.     That  there  have  been  serious 


vi  Note 

lapses  in  the  shape  of  lucid  intervals,  the  critic  will  find  full 
soon! 

It  has  seemed  best  to  treat  of  modern  Niagara  under  what 
might  have  been  called  "Part  I."  of  this  volume.  The  history 
of  the  Niagara  region  proper  begins  in  Chapter  VII.,  the  problems 
of  present-day  interest  occupying  the  preceding  six  chapters. 

A.  B.  H. 

Marietta  College,  Marietta,  Ohio, 
January  26,  1908. 


Contents 


I. — Buffalo  and  the  Upper  Niagara 
II. — From  the  Falls  to  Lake  Ontario 
III. — The  Birth  of  Niagara 
IV. — Niagara  Bond  and  Free  . 
V. — Harnessing  Niagara  Falls 
VI. — A  Century  of  Niagara  Cranks 
VII. — The  Old  Niagara  Frontier 
VIII. — From  La  Salle  to  De  Nonville 
IX. — Niagara  under  Three  Flags     . 
X. — The  Hero  of  Upper  Canada 
XL — The  Second  War  with  England 

XII.— Toronto 

Index        ..... 


PAGE 
I 

23 

•  52 

•  72 
99 

.      123 

.      153 

.      171 

196 

•  231 

•  263 
292 

•  3i5 


List  of  Illustrations 

PAGE 

View  of  Horseshoe  Falls  from  the  Canadian  Side 

From  a  photograph.  Frontispiece 

A  Glimpse  of  Buffalo  Harbor    .....  4 

Lafayette  Square       .......  8 

St.  Paul's  Church,  Buffalo  .  .  .  .  .12 

Niagara  Falls  .......        14 

From  the  original  painting  by  Frederick  Edwin  Church,  in 
Corcoran  Gallery. 

The  American  Rapids  .  .  .  .  .  .16 

The  View  from  Prospect  Point  .....        20 
From  a  photograph  by  Notman,  Montreal. 

Goat  Island  Bridge  and  Rapids  ....        24 

Horseshoe  Falls  from  Below     .....        26 

"The  Shoreless  Sea"  ......        28 

From  a  photograph  by  Notman,  Montreal. 

Rustic  Bridge,  Willow  Island    .....        30 

The  Cave  of  the  Winds       .  .  .  .  .  .32 

The  American  Fall     .......        36 

From  a  photograph  by  Notman,  Montreal. 

Remains  of  Stone  Piers  of  the  "First  Railway  in 
America" — the  British  Tramway  up  Lewiston 
Heights,  1763        .......        38 


Illustrations 


PACK 

Amid  the  Goat  Island  Group       .....  40 
From  a  photograph  by  Notman,  Montreal. 

Horseshoe  Falls  from  the  Canadian  Shore          .          .  44 
From  a  photograph  by  Notman,  Montreal. 

Looking  up  the  Lower  Niagara  from  Paradise  Grove  46 
From  a  photograph  by  Wm.   Quinn,   Niagara-on-the-Lake. 

The  Mouth  of  the  Gorge    ......  48 

From  a  photograph  by  Notman,  Montreal. 

The  Whirlpool  Rapids         ......  50 

The  American  Fall,  July,  1765    .....  54 
From  an  unsigned  original  drawing  in  the  British  Museum. 

The  Horseshoe  Fall,  July,  1765           ....  60 
From  an  unsigned  original  drawing  in  the  British  Museum. 

Ice  Mountain  on  Prospect  Point         ....  64 

Cave  of  the  Winds  in  Winter     .....  66 

"Maid  of  the  Mist"  under  Steel  Arch  Bridge       .          .  70 

Beacon  on  Old  Breakwater  at  Buffalo      ...  72 

Winter  Scene  in  Prospect  Park           ....  74 

Bath  Island,  American  Rapids,  in  1879         ...  80 
From  New  York  Commissioners'  Report. 

Path  to  Luna  Island            ......  86 

Green  Island  Bridge            ......  92 

Bird's-eye  View  of  the  Canadian  Rapids  and  Fall       .  100 
From  a  photograph  by  Notman,  Montreal. 

American  Falls  from  Below        .....  106 

The  Riverside  at  Willow  Island         .  .  .  .118 


Illustrations  xi 

PAGE 

Goat  Island  Bridge,  Showing  Niagara's  Famous  Cata- 
ract and  International  Hotels   .  .  .  .124 

The  Path  to  the  Cave  of  the  Winds  .  .  .      130 

From  a  photograph  by  Notman,  Montreal. 

American  Falls  from  Goat  Island       ....      136 

Horseshoe  Falls  from  Goat  Island     ....      142 

Ice  Bridge  and  American  Falls  ....      148 

Colonel  Romer's  Map  of  the  Country  of  the  Iroquois, 

1700 i54 

Champlain  .  .  .  .  .  .  .160 

Map  of  French  Forts  in  America         ....      164 

Niagara  Falls  by  Father  Hennepin    ....      166 
The   first   known   picture   of   Niagara,    dated    1697. 

R.  Rene  Cavelier,  Sieur  De  La  Salle  .  .  .      172 

Frontenac,  from  Hebert's  Statue  at  Quebec       .  .      178 

Luna  Island  Bridge    .......      184 

"Carte  du  Lac  Ontario."     A  Specimen  French  Map 

of  the  Niagara  Frontier  Dated  October  4,  1757        190 
From  the  original  in  the  British  Museum. 

Stones  on  the  Site  of  Joncaire's  Cabin  under  Lewis- 
ton  Heights,  where  the  "Magazine  Royale"  was 
Erected  in  1719    .......      198 

Specimen   Manuscript   Map   of   Niagara   Frontier   of 

Eighteenth  Century    ......      204 

From  the  original  in  the  British  Museum. 

A  Drawing  of  Fort  Niagara  and  Environs  Showing 

Plan  of  English  Attack  under  Johnson        .  .      208 


xii  Illustrations 

PAGH 

A  Sketch  of  Fort  Niagara  and  Environs  by  the 
French  Commander  Pouchot  Showing  Improve- 
ments of  1756-1758        ....         210   and   211 

Canadian  Trapper,  from  La  Potherie  .  .  .      212 

youngstown,  n.  y.,  from  paradise  grove  .  .  .     '214 

The  Stone  Redoubt  at  Fort  Niagara,  Built  in  1770    .      216 
From  the  original  in  the  British  Museum. 

Pfister's  Sketch  of  Fort  Niagara  and  the  "Com- 
munication," Two  Years  before  the  Outbreak 
of  the  Revolutionary  War  .  .  .  .220 

Fort  Erie  and  the  Mouth  of  the  Niagara,  by  Pfister, 

in  1764  ........      226 

From  the  original  in  the  British  Museum. 

Major-General  Brock  .  .  .  .  .  -232 

A  Plan  of  Fort  Niagara  after  English  Occupation, 

by  Montresor       .......      238 

"Navy  Hall  Opposite  Niagara"  ....      244 

A  drawing  on  bark  by  Mrs.  Simcoe. 

QUEENSTON  AND  BROCK'S  MONUMENT        ....        250 

From  a  photograph  by  Wm.  Quinn,  Niagara-on-the-Lake. 

Brock's  Monument      .......     260 

"queenston  or  landing  near  niagara "      .  .  .      266 

A  drawing  on  bark  by  Mrs.   Simcoe. 

Lieutenant  Pierie's  Sketch  of  Niagara,  1768      .  .      272 

From  an  old  print. 

Old  View  of  Fort  Missisagua      .....      278 
Monument  at  Lundy's  Lane  .....      284 

Lieutenant-General  Simcoe        .....      294 


Illustrations  xiii 


"York  Harbor"  .  296 

A  drawing  on  bark  by  Mrs.  Simcoe. 

"The  Garrison  at  York"    ......     302 

A  drawing  on  bark  by  Mrs.  Simcoe. 

Captain  Sowers's  Drawings  of  Fort  Niagara,  1769       .      308 
From  the  original  in  the  British  Museum. 


^J 


The  Niagara  River 


Chapter  I 

2.  /  6  S  S 
Buffalo  and  the  Upper  Niagara 

THE  Strait  of  Niagara,  or  the  Niagara  River,  as 
it  is  commonly  called,  ranks  among  the  won- 
ders of  the  world.  The  study  of  this  stream 
is  of  intense  and  special  interest  to  many 
classes  of  people,  notably  historians,  archaeologists, 
botanists,  geologists,  artists,  mechanics,  and  electri- 
cians. It  is  doubtful  if  there  is  anywhere  another 
thirty-six  miles  of  riverway  that  can,  in  this  respect, 
compare  with  it. 

The  term  "strait"  as  applied  to  the  Niagara  cor- 
rectly suggests  the  river's  historic  importance.  The 
expression,  recurring  in  so  many  of  the  relations  of 
French  and  English  military  officers,  "on  this  communi- 
cation" also  indicates  Niagara's  position  in  the  story 
of  the  discovery,  conquest,  and  occupation  of  the  conti- 
nent. It  is  probably  the  Falls  which,  technically, 
make  Niagara  a  river;  and  so,  in  turn,  it  is  the  Falls 
that  rendered  Niagara  an  important  strategic  key  of 
the  vast  waterway  stretching  from  the  mouth  of  the 
St.  Lawrence  to  the  head  of  Lake  Superior.  The  lack 
— so  far  as  it  does   exist — of   historic  interest  in  the 


2  The  Niagara  River 

immediate  Niagara  region,  the  comparative  paucity  of 
military  events  of  magnitude  along  that  stream  during 
the  old  French  and  the  Revolutionary  wars  proves, 
on  the  one  hand,  what  a  wilderness  separated  the 
English  on  the  South  from  the  French  on  the  North, 
and,  on  the  other,  how  strong  "the  communication" 
was  between  Quebec  and  the  French  posts  in  the  Middle 
West.  It  does  not  prove  that  Niagara  was  the  less 
important. 

The  Falls  increased  the  historic  importance  of 
Niagara  because  it  limited  navigation  and  made  a 
portage  necessary ;  the  purposes  of  trade  and  missionary 
enterprise,  as  well  as  those  of  conquest,  demanded  that 
this  point  be  occupied,  and  occupation  necessarily 
meant  defence.  Here,  from  Lewiston  and  Queens  ton 
to  Chippewa  and  Port  Day  (to  use  modern  names)  ran 
the  two  most  famous  portage  paths  of  the  continent. 
Here  were  to  be  seen  at  one  time  or  another  the  foot- 
prints of  as  famous  explorers,  noble  missionaries,  and 
brave  soldiers  as  ever  went  to  conquest  in  history. 

The  Niagara  River  was  important  in  the  olden  time 
to  every  mile  of  territory  drained  by  the  waters  that 
flowed  through  it.  What  an  empire  to  hold  in  fee! 
Here  lies  more  than  one-half  the  fresh  water  of  the 
world — the  solid  contents  being,  according  to  Darby 
1,547,011,792,300,000;  it  would  form  a  solid  cubic 
column  measuring  nearly  twenty-two  miles  on  each 
side. 

The  most  remote  body  of  water  tributary  to  Niagara 
River  is  Lake  Superior,  381  miles  long  and  161  miles 
broad  with  a  circumference  of  1 1 50  miles.  The  Niagara 
of  Lake  Superior  is  the  St.  Mary's  River,  twenty-seven 
miles  in  length,  its  current  very  rapid,  with  water  flow- 


Buffalo  and  the  Upper  Niagara  3 

ing  over  great  masses  of  rock  into  Lake  Huron.  Lake 
Huron  is  218  miles  long  and  20  miles  wider  than  Lake 
Superior,  but  with  a  circumference  of  only  812  miles. 
Lake  Michigan  is  345  miles  long  and  84  broad  and 
enters  Lake  Huron  through  Mackinaw  Straits  which 
are  four  miles  in  length,  with  a  fall  of  four  feet.  In 
turn  Lake  Huron  empties  into  the  St.  Clair  and  De- 
troit rivers  which,  with  a  total  fall  of  eleven  feet  in 
fifty-one  miles,  forms  the  Niagara  of  Lake  Erie.  This 
sheet  of  water  is  250  miles  long  and  60  miles  broad 
at  its  widest  part.  The  area  drained  by  these  lakes 
is  as  follows,  including  their  own  area : 

Lake  Superior 85,000  sq.  m. 

"     Huron 74,000       " 

"    Michigan 70,040       " 

"     Erie 39,680 

Total 268,720 

Considering  this  as  a  portion  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
drainage,  we  have  the  marvellous  spectacle  of  a  navi- 
gable waterway  from  the  St.  Louis  River,  Lake  Supe- 
rior, to  Cape  Gaspe  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence, 
of  twenty-one  hundred  miles  in  length,  the  Niagara 
River  being  paralleled  to-day  by  the  Welland  Canal, 
and  lesser  canals  affording  a  passageway  around  the 
rapids  of  the  St.  Mary's  in  the  West  and  the  St.  Law- 
rence in  the  East.  In  a  previous  volume  in  the  present 
series  1  it  was  seen  that  the  improved  rivers  in  the  Ohio 
basin  now  offered  a  navigable  pathway  over  four  thou- 
sand miles  in  length ;  how  insignificant  is  that  prospect 
in  view  of  this  great  transcontinental  waterway  two 
thousand  miles  in  length  but  including  the   268,000 

1  The  Ohio  River;  A  Course  of  Empire,  p.  359. 


4  The  Niagara  River 

square  miles  in  the  four  great  lakes  alone !  Well  does 
George  Waldo  Browne  in  his  beautiful  volume  on  this 
subject,  The  St.  Lawrence  River,  say: 

Treated  in  a  more  extended  manner,  according  to  the  ideas 
of  the  early  French  geographers,  and  taking  either  the  river  and 
lake  of  Nipigon,  on  the  north  of  Superior,  or  the  river  St.  Louis, 
flowing  from  the  south-west,  it  has  a  grand  total  length  of  over 
two  thousand  miles.  With  its  tributaries  it  drains  over  four 
hundred  thousand  square  miles  of  country,  made  up  of  fertile 
valleys  and  plateaux  inhabited  by  a  prosperous  people,  desolate 
barrens,  deep  forests,  where  the  foot  of  man  has  not  yet  left  its 
imprint. 

Seldom  less  than  two  miles  in  width,  it  is  two  and  one-half 
miles  wide  where  it  issues  from  Ontario,  and  with  several  expan- 
sions which  deserve  the  name  of  lake  it  becomes  eighty  miles  in 
width  where  it  ceases  to  be  considered  a  river.  The  influence 
of  the  tide  is  felt  as  far  up  as  Lake  St.  Peter,  about  one  hundred 
miles  from  the  gulf,  while  it  is  navigable  for  sea-going  vessels  to 
Montreal,  eighty  miles  farther  inland.  Rapids  impede  naviga- 
tion above  this  point,  but  by  means  of  canals  continuous  com- 
munication is  obtained  to  the  head  of  Lake  Superior. 

If  inferior  in  breadth  to  the  mighty  Amazon,  if  it  lacks  the 
length  of  the  Mississippi,  if  without  the  stupendous  gorges  and 
cataracts  of  the  Yang-tse-Kiang  of  China,  if  missing  the  ancient 
castles  of  the  Rhine,  if  wanting  the  lonely  grandeur  that  still 
overhangs  the  Congo  of  the  Dark  Continent,  the  Great  River  of 
Canada  has  features  as  remarkable  as  any  of  these.  It  has  its 
source  in  the  largest  body  of  fresh  water  upon  the  globe,  and 
among  all  of  the  big  rivers  of  the  world  it  is  the  only  one 
whose  volume  is  not  sensibly  affected  by  the  elements.  In  rain 
or  in  sunshine,  in  spring  floods  or  in  summer  droughts,  this  phe- 
nomenon of  waterways  seldom  varies  more  than  a  foot  in  its 
rise  and  fall. 

The  history  of  the  Niagara  is  so  closely  interwoven 
with  that  of  the  great   "Queen  City  of  the  Lakes," 


o 
u 


M-H 

o 

6 
3 

< 


&*'    i  .        fifr 


Buffalo  and  the  Upper  Niagara  5 

Buffalo,  that  it  would  seem  as  though  the  famous 
waterway  was  in  the  suburb  of  the  city  and  its  greatest 
scenic  attraction.  However  true  this  is  to-day,  it  was 
very  far  from  the  case  a  century  ago,  for  though  the 
site  of  Buffalo  was  historic  and  important,  the  city, 
as  such,  is  of  comparative  recent  origin,  coming  to  its 
own  with  giant  strides  in  those  last  decades  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  Writes  Mr.  Rowland  B.  Mahany  in  his 
excellent  chapter  on  "Buffalo"  in  The  Historic  Towns 
of  the  Middle  States: 

Few  cities  of  the  United  States  have  a  history  more  pictur- 
esque than  Buffalo,  or  more  typical  of  the  forces  that  have  made 
the  Republic  great.  At  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  Federal 
constitution,  in  1787,  not  a  single  white  settler  dwelt  on  the  site 
of  what  is  now  the  Queen  of  the  Lakes;  and  it  was  not  until  after 
the  second  presidency  of  Washington,  that  Joseph  Ellicott,  the 
founder  of  Buffalo,  laid  out  the  plan  of  the  town,  which  he  called 
New  Amsterdam. 

On  February  10,  1810,  the  "Town  of  Buffaloe"  was 
created  by  act  of  the  State  Legislature,  a  name  origin- 
ally given  to  the  locality  by  the  Seneca  Indians,  who, 
we  shall  see,  dominated  the  old  Niagara  frontier;  it  is 
believed  that  the  name  came  from  the  animals  which 
visited  the  neighbouring  salt  licks ;  and  the  name  there- 
fore may  be  much  older  than  any  settlement  or  even 
camping  site.  The  village  of  New  Amsterdam  was 
now  merged  into  the  town  of  Buffalo,  which  boasted 
a  newspaper  in  the  second  year  of  its  existence,  181 1. 
The  story  of  the  following  years  falls  naturally  into 
that  of  the  disastrous  war  with  England  from  181 2 
to  1 814,  in  which  Buffalo  suffered  severely.  As  Mr. 
Mahany  suggests,  the  story  of  Buffalo  is  character- 
istically American,  and  its  phases,  as  such  offer  an 


6  The  Niagara  River 

inviting  field,  but  one  too  wide  for  full  examination 
in  the  present  history.1 

The  important  position  of  the  city  with  reference 
to  the  Great  Lakes  was  very  greatly  increased  with 
the  building  of  the  Erie  Canal  from  1817  to  1825.  It 
is  interesting  to  recall  the  fact  that  it  was  in  reality 
fear  of  the  possibility  of  another  war  with  England 
that  caused  the  deciding  vote  for  the  Erie  Canal  pro- 
ject to  be  cast  in  its  favour.2  In  the  proper  place  we 
shall  have  impressed  upon  us  the  great  distance  that 
separated  the  Niagara  frontier  from  the  inhabited  por- 
tion of  the  Republic  at  this  early  period,  the  great 
length  of  the  land  route  and  the  difficulty  of  it ;  it  was 
said  to  be  far  more  than  a  cannon  was  worth  to  haul  it 
to  the  frontier  during  the  War  of  181 2.  All  this  shows 
very  distinctly  the  early  condition  surrounding  the  rise 
of  the  metropolis  of  the  Niagara  country,  and,  from  be- 
ing strange  that  little  Buffalo  did  not  grow  faster,  it  is 
amazing  to  find  such  rapid  growth  during  the  first 
twenty-five  years  of  her  life. 

With  the  opening  of  the  canal  in  1825  a  new  era 
dawned ;  the  work  of  the  great  land  companies  in  north- 
eastern New  York  drew  vast  armies  of  people  thither, 
and  the  canal  proved  to  be  the  great  route  for  a  much 
longer  migration  from  the  seaboard  to  the  further 
north-west,  to  Michigan  and  Wisconsin,  as  well  as  to 
neighbouring  Ohio.  All  this  helped  Buffalo.  Num- 
bers of  travellers  arriving  at  the  future  site  of  the  Queen 

1  Frank  H.  Severance  in  his  delightful  Old  Trails  of  the  Niagara  Fron- 
tier has  several  most  interesting  chapters  relating  to  the  Buffalo  neighbour- 
hood. Mr.  Severance  has  done,  through  the  Buffalo  Historical  Society, 
much  good  work  in  keeping  warm  the  affection  of  the  present  generation 
for  the  memory  of  the  past,  its  heroes  and  its  sacrifices. 

2  See  A.  B.  Hulbert,  The  Great  American  Canals,  vol.  ii.,  p.  in. 


Buffalo  and  the  Upper  Niagara  7 

City  of  the  Lakes  at  once  decided  that  they  could  at 
least  go  farther  and  fare  very  much  worse,  and  so  sat 
down  to  grow  up  with  the  Niagara  frontier.  The  prox- 
imity of  the  Falls  had  something  to  do,  of  course,  with 
bringing  increasingly  larger  numbers  of  travellers  and 
transients  to  the  Lake  Erie  village.  But  it  was  slow 
work,  this  building  up  a  great  city,  and  no  doubt  the 
very  fact  that  the  stones  of  the  mighty  edifice  one  finds 
beside  that  beautiful  harbour  to-day  were  laid  slowly 
accounts  for  the  solidity  of  the  structure;  Buffalo  was 
not  built  on  a  boom. 

From  James  L.  Barton's  reminiscences,  for  instance, 
we  have  clear  pictures  of  the  early  struggle  for  business 
in  this  frontier  town,  which  prove  it  to  have  been  typ- 
ically American.  Mr.  Barton  owned  a  line  of  boats 
on  the  Lakes  and  canal  but  found  it  very  difficult  to 
find  freight  for  the  boats  to  carry  down  the  State ; 

A  few  tons  of  freight  [he  writes],  was  all  that  we  could  furnish 
each  boat  to  carry  to  Albany.  This  they  would  take  in,  and  fill 
up  at  Rochester,  which  place,  situated  in  the  heart  of  the  wheat- 
growing  district  of  Western  New  York,  furnished  nearly  all  the 
down  freight  that  passed  on  the  canal.  Thus  we  lived  and  strug- 
gled on  until  1830.  Our  population  had  increased  largely,  and 
that  year  numbered  six  thousand  and  thirty-one.  In  the  fall 
of  1 83 1,  I  received  from  Cleveland  one  thousand  bushels  of  wheat. 
.  .  .  The  next  winter  I  made  arrangement  with  the  late  Colonel 
Ira  A.  Blossom,  the  resident  agent  of  the  Holland  Land  Company, 
to  furnish  storage  for  all  the  wheat  the  settlers  should  bring  in, 
towards  the  payment  on  their  land  contracts  with  the  company. 
The  whole  amount  did  not  exceed  three  thousand  bushels.  .  .  . 
In  1833  the  Ohio  canal  was  completed,  which  gave  us  a  little 
more  business.  Northern  Ohio  was  then  the  only  portion  of  the 
great  West  that  had  any  surplus  agricultural  products  to  send 
to  an  eastern  market.  In  1833  a  little  stir  commenced  in  land 
operations,  which  increased  the  next  year,  and  in  1835  became 


8  The  Niagara  River 

a  perfect  fever  and  swallowed  up  almost  everything  else.  Nearly 
every  person  who  had  any  enterprise  got  rich  from  buying  and  sell- 
ing land ;  using  little  money  in  these  transactions,  but  paying  and 
receiving  in  pay,  bonds  and  mortgages  to  an  illimitable  amount. 

In  1837  the  panic  affected  the  young  lake  city  as  it 
did  all  parts  of  the  land,  but  by  1840  the  population  of 
Buffalo  had  swelled  to  over  eighteen  thousand.  The 
record  of  growth  of  the  past  century  is  a  matter  of 
figures  strung  on  the  faith  of  a  great  company  of  active, 
enterprising,  far-sighted  business  men,  until  Buffalo 
ranks  among  the  cities  of  half  a  million  population,  with 
a  future  unquestionably  secure  and  brilliant. 

The  Niagara  River  is  some  nineteen  hundred  feet 
in  width  at  its  mouth  here  at  Buffalo  and  forty-eight 
feet  deep ;  the  average  rate  of  current  here  is  under  six 
miles  per  hour,  but  when  south-west  gales  drive  the 
lake  billows  in  gigantic  gulps  down  the  river's  mouth 
the  current  sometimes  races  as  fast  as  twelve  miles  per 
hour.  Old  Fort  Erie,  built  here  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Niagara  immediately  after  England  won  the  continent 
from  France,  in  1764,  was  formerly  the  only  settlement 
hereabouts,  Black  Rock,  now  part  of  Buffalo,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Erie  Canal,  was  not  settled  until  near  the 
close  of  that  century.  It  is  believed  that  five  forts  have 
guarded  the  mouth  of  this  strategic  river,  all  known  as 
Fort  Erie.  When  the  people  of  the  opposite  sides  of 
the  river  were  in  conflict  in  181 2,  Black  Rock  was  the 
rival  of  Fort  Erie.  The  large  black  rock  which  formed 
the  landing-place  of  the  ferry  across  the  river  here,  and 
which  gave  the  hamlet  its  name,  was  destroyed  when 
the  Erie  Canal  was  built.  Black  Rock  was  formally 
laid  out  in  1804  and  in  1853  was  incorporated  with  the 
city  of  Buffalo. 


Buffalo  and  the  Upper  Niagara  9 

The  upper  Niagara  with  its  even  current  and  low- 
lying  banks  is  not  specially  attractive.  Grand  Island, 
two  miles  below  the  mouth,  divides  the  river  into  two 
narrow  arms.  This  beautiful  island,  the  Indian  name 
of  which  was  Owanunga,  so  popular  to-day  as  a  sum- 
mering place,  is  remembered  in  history  especially  as 
the  site  selected  in  1825  for  Major  M.  M.Noah's  "New 
Jerusalem,"  the  proposed  industrial  centre  of  the  Jews 
of  the  New  World,  but  nothing  was  accomplished  on 
the  island  itself  toward  the  object  in  view. 

At  Buffalo,  however,  Noah  took  the  title  "Judge 
of  Israel,"  and  held  a  meeting  in  the  old  St.  Paul's 
Church,  where  remarkable  initiatory  rites  took  place. 
In  resplendent  robes  covered  by  a  mantle  of  crimson  silk, 
trimmed'  with  ermine,  the  Judge  held  what  he  termed 
"impressive  and  unique  ceremony,"  in  which  he  read  a 
proclamation  to  "all  the  Jews  throughout  the  world," 
bringing  them  the  glad  tidings  that  on  the  ancient  isle 
Owanunga  "an  asylum  was  prepared  and  offered  to 
them,"  and  that  he  did  "revive,  renew,  and  establish 
(in  the  Lord's  name),  the  government  of  the  Jewish 
nation,  .  .  .  confirming  and  perpetuating  all  our  rights 
and  privileges,  our  rank  and  power,  among  the  nations 
of  the  earth  as  they  existed  and  were  recognised  under 
the  government  of  the  Judges."  Mr.  Noah  ordered 
a  census  of  all  the  Hebrews  in  the  world  to  be  taken 
and  did  not  forget,  incidentally,  to  levy  a  tax  of  about 
one  dollar  and  a  half  on  every  Jew  in  order  to  carry  on 
the  project.  A  "foundation  stone"  was  prepared  to 
be  erected  on  the  site  of  the  future  New  Jerusalem;  the 
following  inscription  was  engraved  upon  it: 

Hear,  O  Israel,  the  Lord 
is  our  God — the  Lord  is  one. 


io  The  Niagara  River 

ARARAT, 

A  CITY  OF  REFUGE  FOR  THE  JEWS, 

FOUNDED  BY  MORDECAI  MANUEL  NOAH, 

IN  THE  MONTH  OF  TISRI  5586 SEPT.    1825 

IN  THE  FIFTIETH  YEAR  OF 
AMERICAN  INDEPENDENCE. 

At  the  lower  extremity  of  Grand  Island  is  historic 
Burnt  Ship  Bay,  made  famous,  as  hereafter  related, 
in  the  old  French  War. 

The  little  town  of  Tonawanda,  with  its  immense 
lumber  interests,  and  La  Salle,  famous  in  history  as 
the  building  site  of  the  Griffon,  elsewhere  described, 
lie  opposite  Grand  Island  on  the  American  shore,  the 
former  at  the  mouth  of  Cayuga  Creek.  On  the  opposite 
shore,  a  little  below  the  beautiful  Navy  Island,  is  the 
historic  town  of  Chippewa. 

Below  Navy  Island  the  river  spreads  out  to  a 
width  of  over  two  miles;  it  has  fallen  twenty  feet 
since  leaving  Lake  Erie,  and  now  gathers  into  a 
narrower  channel  for  its  magnificent  rush  to  the  falls 
one  mile  below.  In  this  mile  the  river  drops  fifty- 
two  feet,  through  what  are  known  as  the  American 
and  Canadian  Rapids,  on  their  respective  sides  of  the 
river. 

From  a  scenic  standpoint  it  is  questionable  whether 
any  of  the  delights  of  Niagara  surpass  those  afforded 
by  this  beautiful  series  of  cascades;  sightseers  are 
prepared  from  their  earliest  days  for  the  magnificent 
beauty  of  the  Falls  themselves,  but  of  the  Rapids 
above  little  is  known  until  their  insidious  charm 
gradually  works  its  way  into  the  heart  to  remain  for- 
ever an  image  of  beauty  and  rapture  that  cannot  be 
effaced.     Guide  books  will   give   adequate   advice  as 


Buffalo  and  the  Upper  Niagara  n 

to    the   best   points   of   vantage   from  which  to  view 
the  various  rifts  and  cascades.  l 

Some  years  ago  [writes  Mr.  Porter],  Colin  Hunter,  then  an 
Associate,  now  a  Royal  Academician,  came  over  from  London 
to  paint  Niagara.  Of  all  the  points  of  view  he  selected  the  one 
as  seen  up  stream  from  the  head  of  the  Little  Brother  Island.  A 
temporary  bridge  was  built  to  it,  and  here,  with  a  guard  at  the 
bridge,  so  as  to  be  secure  from  intrusion,  he  painted  his  grand 
view,  looking  up  stream.  The  upper  ledge  of  rocks,  with  its  long, 
rapid  cascade,  was  his  sky-line ;  in  the  foreground  were  the  tum- 
bling Rapids;  far  to  the  right  of  the  picture  the  tops  of  a  few  trees 
appearing  on  the  Canada  shore  above  the  waters  alone  showed 
the  presence  of  any  land.  We  advise  .  .  .  the  visitor  to  clamber 
over  the  rocks  on  the  Canadian  shore  of  the  Island  ...  go  out 
as  near  the  water's  edge  as  possible,  and  you  will  appreciate  the 
difference  that  a  few  feet  in  a  point  of  observation  may  make  in 
what  is  apparently  the  same  scenery.  Just  before  you  reach  the 
foot  of  the  island  a  gnarled  cedar  tree  and  a  rock,  accessible  by 
leaping  from  stone  to  stone,  gives  you  access  to  a  point  of  obser- 
vation than  which  there  is  nothing  more  beautiful  at  Niagara. 
Do  not  fail  to  get  this  view,  for  it  is  the  Colin  Hunter  view,  as 
nearly  as  you  can  get  it,  and  you  will  appreciate  the  artistic  sense 
of  the  great  painter  who  chose  this  incomparable  view  in  prefer- 
ence to  the  Falls  themselves  for  a  reproduction  of  the  very  best 
at  Niagara. 

Another  beautiful  point  from  which  to  view  the 
Rapids  is  on  Terrapin  Rocks,  the  so-called  scenic  and 
geographical  centre  of  Niagara.     Here  the  power  of 

»  Congressman  Peter  A.  Porter's  Guide  Book  may  be  recommended 
highly;  its  use  to  the  present  writer,  taken  in  addition  to  its  author's  per- 
sonal assistance  and  advice,  must  be  acknowledged  in  the  most  unreserved 
way.  Numerous  references  to  Mr.  Porter's  various  monographs,  espe- 
cially his  Old  Fort  Niagara  and  Goat  Island,  in  addition  to  his  Guide,  will 
be  met  with  frequently  in  this  volume.  To  one  really  interested  in  Niag- 
ara history  Old  Fort  Niagara  will  be  found  most  attractive  and  compre- 
hensive; its  numerous  references  to  authorities  put  it  quite  in  a  class  by 
itself  among  local  histories. 


*v. 


i2  The  Niagara  River 


&' 


the  magnificent  river,  the  "shoreless  sea"  above  you, 
the  clouds  for  its  horizon,  grows  more  impressive  with 
every  visit.  By  day  the  sight  is  marvellously  impres- 
sive; by  night,  under  some  circumstances,  it  is  yet  more 
wonderful.  Of  this  night  view  Margaret  Fuller  wrote, 
most  feelingly: 

After  nightfall  as  there  was  a  splendid  moon,  I  went  down  to 
the  bridge  and  leaned  over  the  parapet,  where  the  boiling  rapids 
came  down  in  their  might.  It  was  grand,  and  it  was  also  gor- 
geous; the  yellow  rays  of  the  moon  made  the  broken  waves  ap- 
pear like  auburn  tresses  twining  around  the  black  rocks.  But 
they  did  not  inspire  me  as  before.  I  felt  a  foreboding  of  a  might- 
ier emotion  to  rise  up  and  swallow  all  others,  and  I  passed  on 
to  the  Terrapin  Bridge.  Everything  was  changed,  the  misty  ap- 
parition had  taken  off  its  many  coloured  crown  which  it  had  worn 
by  day,  and  a  bow  of  silvery  white  spanned  its  summit.  The 
moonlight  gave  a  poetical  indefiniteness  to  the  distant  parts  of 
the  waters,  and  while  the  rapids  were  glancing  in  her  beams,  the 
river  below  the  Falls  was  as  black  as  night,  save  where  the  reflec- 
tion of  the  sky  gave  it  the  appearance  of  a  shield  of  blue  steel. 

As  the  Falls  of  Niagara  slowly  creep  backward  in 
tune  to  their  stupendous  recessional  toward  Lake  Erie 
they  encroach  more  and  more  on  the  magnificent  do- 
main of  the  Rapids,  nor  will  their  gradual  increase  in 
height  atone  for  this  savage  invasion  nor  palliate  the 
offence  committed.  A  thousand  years  more,  we  are  told, 
and  the  visitor  will  view  the  "  Horseshoe  "  Fall  from  the 
upper  end  of  the  Third  Sister  Island,  and  the  marvel- 
lous canvas  of  Colin  Hunter  will  be  as  meaningless  as 
Hennepin's  picture  of  two  centuries  and  more  ago.  The 
American  Fall,  receding  much  more  slowly  than  the 
Horseshoe  Fall,  will  invade  the  beautiful  rapids  above 
Goat  Island  bridge  at  a  very  much  later  date,  for,  as 
we  shall  see,  the  greater  fall  recedes  almost  as  many 


I 


St.  Paul's  Church,  Buffalo. 


Buffalo  and  the  Upper  Niagara  13 

feet  per  year  as  the  lesser  recedes  inches.  And  in  this 
connection  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  if  the  recession 
continued  to  Lake  Erie  and  onward  into  that  lake  until 
the  line  of  fall  was  a  mile  long  at  its  crest,  with  the  water 
falling  336  feet,  Victoria  Falls  in  the  Zambesi  River 
would  still  exceed  their  American  rival  by  sixty-four 
feet  in  height! 

The  accessibility  of  the  Niagara  Rapids,  because 
of  the  fortunate  location  of  the  Goat  Island  group  is, 
in  itself,  one  of  the  great  charms  of  the  region,  and  this 
may  explain  in  part  the  insuppressible  desire  of  early 
visitors  to  reach  these  glorious  points  of  vantage.  The 
view  of  the  rapids  from  the  Goat  Island  bridge  to-day 
is  said  to  be  the  source  of  chief  pleasure  "to  half  the 
visitors  to  Niagara."  * 

George  Houghton's  beautiful  lines  on  "The  Upper 
Rapids"  express  with  fine  feeling  the  effect  of  these 
racing  cascades  on  the  sensitive  mind : 

Still  with  the  wonder  of  boyhood,  I  follow  the  race  of  the  Rapids, 
Sirens  that  dance,  and  allure  to  destruction, — now  lurking  in 

shadows, 
Skirting  the  level  stillness  of  pools  and  the  treacherous  shallows, 
Smiling  and   dimple-mouthed,   coquetting, — now  modest,   now 

forward ; 

Tenderly  chanting,  and  such  the  thrall  of  the  weird  incantation, 
Thirst  it  awakes  in  each  listener's  soul,  a  feverish  longing, 
Thoughts  all  absorbent,  a  torment  that  stings  and  ever  increases, 
Burning  ambition  to  push  bare-breast  to  thy  perilous  bosom. 

1  Frederick  Almy  in  The  Niagara  Book,  p.  5 1 .  This  volume  has  been  of 
perennial  interest  to  the  author  because  of  the  contributions  of  the  vener- 
able William  Dean  Howells  and  E.  S.  Martin.  No  one  who  in  early  life 
has  essayed  the  life  of  journalist  and  correspondent  can  read  Mr.  Howells's 
article  in  this  little  book  without  immense  relish;  its  humour  is  contagious, 
and  its  descriptions  of  Niagara  in  i860,  fascinating. 


14  The  Niagara  River 

Thus,  in  some  midnight  obscure,  bent  down  by  the  storm  of 

temptation 
(So  hath  the  wind,  in  the  beechen  wood,  confided  the  story), 
Pine-trees,  thrusting  their  way  and  trampling  down  one  another, 
Curious,  lean  and  listen,  replying  in  sobs  and  in  whispers; 

Till  of  the  secret  possessed,  which  brings  sure  blight  to  the  hearer, 
(So  hath  the  wind,  in  the  beechen  wood,  confided  the  story), 
Faltering,  they  stagger  brinkward, — clutch  at  the  roots  of  the 

grasses, 
Cry, — a  pitiful  cry  of  remorse, — and  plunge  down  in  the  darkness. 

Art  thou  all-merciless  then, — a  fiend,  ever  fierce  for  new  victims? 
Was  then  the  red-man  right  (as  yet  it  liveth  in  legend), 
That,  ere  each  twelvemonth  circles,  still  to  thy  shrine  is  allotted 
Blood  of  one  human  heart,  as  sacrifice  due  and  demanded? 

Butterflies  have  I  followed,  that  leaving  the  red-top  and  clover, 
Thinking  a  wind-harp  thy  voice,  thy  froth  the  fresh  whiteness 

of  daisies, 
Ventured  too  close,  grew  giddy,  and  catching  cold  drops  on  their 

pinions, 
Balanced  —  but  vainly, — and  falling,  their  scarlet  was  blotted 

forever. 

When,  about  1880,  William  M.  Hunt  was  commis- 
sioned to  decorate  the  immense  panels  of  the  Assembly 
Chamber  of  the  Capitol  at  Albany,  N.  Y.,  he  chose, 
with  true  artistic  feeling,  the  view  of  the  rapids  above 
Goat  Island  bridge  as  the  choice  picture  to  represent 
the  great  marvel  and  chief  wonder  of  the  Empire  State 
— Niagara.  It  is  generally  conceded  that  Church's 
Horseshoe  Falls  takes  rank  over  all  other  paintings  of 
Niagara,  but  Colin  Hunter's  Rapids  of  Niagara  excel 
any  other  view  of  either  the  Falls,  Gorge,  or  Rapids 
on  canvas  to-day. 

But  we  must  observe  here  that  these  Rapids  were 
something  aside  from  beautiful  to  the  French  and  Eng- 


*s 


Buffalo  and  the  Upper  Niagara  15 

lish  officers  whose  duty  it  was  to  defend  and  supply 
"the  communication"  from  Fort  Frontenac  to  Fort 
Chartres;  they  probably  seemed  very  "horrid,"  in  the 
old  time  sense,  to  those  who  struggled  under  the  bur- 
dens of  the  ancient  portage  path.  The  southern  ter- 
mini of  the  two  pathways — one  on  either  side  of  the 
river — were  Chippewa  and  Port  Day,  respectively. 
The  route  from  Lewiston  to  Port  Day  was  evidently 
the  common  portage  until  after  the  War  of  1 8 1 2  when 
the  Canadian  path  was  opened.  A  little  below  what 
is  known  as  Schlosser  Dock  stood  the  French  fort  guard- 
ing this  end  of  their  old  portage  path,  Fort  du  Portage 
or  Little  Fort  Niagara,  built  about  1750,  nine  years 
before  England  conquered  the  region.  Near  by  stands 
the  one  famous  relic  of  the  old  regime,  the  Old  Stone 
Chimney  of  Fort  du  Portage,  later  a  chimney  of  the 
English  mess-house  at  Fort  Schlosser.  As  will  be 
noted  later  Fort  du  Portage  was  destroyed  by  the  re- 
treating French,  after  the  capture  of  Fort  Niagara  by 
Sir  William  Johnson ;  to  guard  that  end  of  the  portage 
the  English  under  Colonel  Schlosser  built  Fort  Schlosser 
in  1 761 .  The  road  occupying  the  course  of  the  ancient 
portage  does  not  extend  to  the  river  now,  but  it  bears 
the  old  name,  and  on  it  you  may  see,  not  half  a  mile 
back,  outlines  of  the  earthen  works  of  one  of  the  eleven 
block-houses  built  in  1764  by  Captain  Montresor  the 
first  of  which  was  erected  on  the  hill  above  Lewiston ; 
these  block-houses  guarded  the  important  roadway 
from  the  assaults  of  Indians  such  as  the  famous  Bloody 
Run  Massacre  of  1763.  Frenchman's  Landing  is  the 
modern  name  for  the  cove  below  the  Old  Stone  Chimney 
where  was  the  terminus  of  the  earliest  portage  path 
guarded  by  the  block-house  known  as  the  first  Little 


1 6  The  Niagara  River 

Fort  Niagara.  This  whole  district  is  now  the  site  of 
the  power-houses  and  mills  that  are  making  Niagara  a 
word  to  conjure  with  in  the  centres  of  trade  as  certainly 
as  in  the  ancient  day  it  was  a  mesmeric  word  in  the 
courts  and  camps  of  the  Old  World. 

The  thunder  of  Niagara  Falls  reaches  our  ears  even 
amid  the  music  of  these  beautiful  Rapids,  and  we  are 
drawn  on  to  the  marvellous  group  of  islands  that 
impinge  upon  the  cataract. 

What  is  commonly  known  as  the  Goat  Island  group 
consists  of  the  island  of  that  name,  containing  some 
seventy  acres  of  land,  and  sixteen  other  islands  or  rocks 
contiguous  thereto.  Without  undertaking  to  dispute 
or  defend  many  of  the  extravagant  assertions  made  in 
behalf  of  Goat  Island,  to  which  have  been  given  the 
titles  "Temple  of  Nature,"  "Enchanted  Isles,"  "Isle 
of  Beauty,"  "Shrine  of  the  Deity,"  "Fairy  Isles,"  etc. 
it  would,  I  think,  be  difficult  to  disprove  the  statement 
often  made  that  no  other  seventy  acres  on  the  continent 
are  more  interesting  than  these  bearing  this  homely 
name.  From  the  standpoint  of  the  artist  and  natural- 
ist this  statement  would  probably  pass  unquestioned. 
The  views  already  alluded  to  of  the  American  and  Cana- 
dian rapids  to  be  gained  from  this  delightful  vantage 
point  are  probably  unparalleled.  To  the  botanist  Goat 
Island  is  a  paradise.  Sir  Joseph  Hooker  affirmed  that 
he  found  here  a  greater  variety  of  vegetation  within 
a  given  space  than  he  had  found  in  Europe  or  in  Amer- 
ica east  of  the  Sierras,  and  Dr.  Asa  Gray  confirmed 
the  extravagant  statement.  Wrote  Frederick  Law 
Olmsted : 

I  have  followed  the  Appalachian  chain  almost  from  end  to 
end,  and  travelled  on  horseback  "in  search  of  the  picturesque" 


as 
pi 


Buffalo  and  the  Upper  Niagara  17 

over  four  thousand  miles  of  the  most  promising  parts  of  the  conti- 
nent without  finding  elsewhere  the  same  quality  of  forest  beauty 
which  was  once  abundant  about  the  Falls,  and  which  is  still  to 
be  observed  on  those  parts  of  Goat  Island  where  the  original 
growth  of  trees  and  shrubs  has  not  been  disturbed,  and  where 
from  caving  banks  trees  are  not  now  exposed  to  excessive  dryness 
at  the  root. 

In  a  report,  prepared  by  David  F.  Day  for  the  New 
York  State  Reservation  Commissioners,  we  find  ex- 
plained, in  part,  the  notable  fertility  of  this  little  plot 
of  ground,  although  the  oft-returning  misty  rain  from 
the  Falls,  and  the  fact  that  Goat  Island  never  experi- 
ences the  dangers  of  a  "forward"  spring  have  much 
to  do  in  preserving  its  beautiful  robe  of  colours : 

A  calcareous  soil  enriched  with  an  abundance  of  organic  mat- 
ter like  that  of  Goat  Island  would  necessarily  be  one  of  great  fer- 
tility. For  the  growth  and  sustentation  of  a  forest  and  of  such 
plants  as  prefer  the  woods  to  the  openings  it  would  far  excel  the 
deep  and  exhaustless  alluvians  of  the  prairie  states. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  find  within  another  territory  so  re- 
stricted in  its  limits  so  great  a  diversity  of  trees  and  shrubs  and 
still  more  difficult  to  find  in  so  small  an  area  such  examples  of 
arboreal  symmetry  and  perfection  as  the  island  has  to  exhibit. 

The  island  received  its  flora  from  the  mainland,  in  fact  the 
botanist  is  unable  to  point  out  a  single  instance  of  tree,  shrub,  or 
herb,  now  growing  upon  the  island  not  also  to  be  found  upon  the 
mainland.  But  the  distinguishing  characteristic  of  its  flora  is 
not  the  possession  of  any  plant  elsewhere  unknown,  but  the 
abundance  of  individuals  and  species,  which  the  island  displays. 
There  are  to  be  found  in  Western  New  York  about  170  species 
of  trees  and  shrubs.  Goat  Island  and  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
the  river  near  the  Falls  can  show  of  these  no  less  than  140. 
There  are  represented  on  the  island  four  maples,  three  species 
of  thorn,  two  species  of  ash,  and  six  species,  distributed  in  five 
genera,  of  the  cone-bearing  family.  The  one  species  of  bass- 
wood  belonging  to  the  vicinity  is  also  there. 


1 8  The  Niagara  River 

Mr.  Day  has  a  catalogue  of  plants  in  his  report  to 
the  Reservation  Commissioners,  giving  909  species  of 
plants  to  be  found  on  the  Reservation,  of  which  758 
are  native  and  151  foreign.     Wrote  Margaret  Fuller: 

The  beautiful  wood  on  Goat  Island  is  full  of  flowers,  many  of 
the  fairest  love  to  do  homage  there.  The  wake  robin  and  the 
May  apple  are  in  bloom,  the  former  white,  pink,  green,  purple, 
copying  the  rainbow  of  the  Falls,  and  fit  it  for  its  presiding  Deity 
when  He  walks  the  land,  for  they  are  of  imperial  size  and 
shaped  like  stones  for  a  diadem.  Of  the  May  apple  I  did  not 
raise  one  green  tent  without  finding  a  flower  beneath. 

Explaining  the  climatic  advantages  of  the  island 
Mr.  Olmsted  remarks: 

First,  the  masses  of  ice  which  every  winter  are  piled  to  a  great 
height  below  the  Falls  and  the  great  rushing  body  of  ice  cold 
water  coming  from  the  northern  lakes  in  the  spring  prevent 
at  Niagara  the  hardship  under  which  trees  elsewhere  often  suffer 
through  sudden  checks  to  premature  growth.  And  second, 
when  droughts  elsewhere  occur,  as  they  do  every  few  years,  of 
such  severity  that  trees  in  full  foliage  droop  and  dwindle  and 
even  sometimes  cast  their  leaves,  the  atmosphere  at  Niagara  is 
more  or  less  moistened  by  the  constantly  evaporating  spray  of 
the  Falls,  and  in  certain  situations  bathed  by  drifting  clouds  of 
spray. 

It  is  a  very  irony  of  fate  that  this  marvellous  gem 
among  the  islands  of  earth  could  not  bear  a  name  befit- 
ting its  place  in  the  admiration  and  esteem  of  a  world ; 
it  was,  I  believe,  Judge  Porter  himself  that  named  this 
beautiful  spot  "Iris  Island,"  a  name  altogether  fitting 
in  both  wealth  of  suggestion  and  beauty  of  association. 
One  John  Steadman,  remembered  as  a  contractor  to 
widen  the  old  portage  path  from  Lewiston  to  Fort 
Schlosser,  and  former  owner  of  the   island   under   a 


Buffalo  and  the  Upper  Niagara  19 

"Seneca  patent,"  planted  some  turnips  here,  we  are 
told,  in  the  year  1 770  a.d.,  and  in  the  following  autumn 
placed  here  "a  number  of  animals,  among  them  a  male 
goat,"  to  get  them  out  of  the  reach  of  the  bears  and 
wolves  that  infested  the  neighbouring  shore  near  his 
home  two  miles  up  the  river.  In  the  spring  of  1771  it 
was  found  that  the  severe  winter  had  been  too  much 
for  all  but  the  "male  goat,"  who,  unfortunately,  sur- 
vived the  ordeal,  and  by  so  doing  bids  fair  to  hand  his 
name  down  through  the  centuries  attached  to  the  most 
beautiful  island  in  the  world.  In  the  Treaty  of  Ghent, 
which  set  our  boundary  line  here,  the  island  bears  the 
name  "Iris."  Mr.  Porter  has  stated  that  even  if  it 
were  desirable  to  change  the  name  now  "it  would  seem 
impossible  now  to  do  so."  1  Is  this  the  truth?  Could 
not  the  commissioners  who  have  the  matters  in  hand 
do  a  great  deal  toward  inaugurating  a  change  to  the 
old  official  name  that  would  in  the  long  run  prove  effec- 
tive? The  present  writer  is  most  positive  that  this 
could  be  done  and  that  it  is  a  thing  that  ought  certainly 
to  be  attempted  immediately.  It  would  be  surprising 
how  much  the  change  would  be  favoured  if  once  at- 
tempted, if  guide  books  and  maps  followed  the  new 
nomenclature.  The  only  possible  satisfaction  that  one 
can  have  in  the  present  name  is  in  the  horrifying  reflec- 
tion that  if  the  male  goat  had  died  the  island  would 
probably  have  been  "Turnip  Island"  if  not  "Colic 
Island." 

Below  the  islands  resound  the  Falls.     Perhaps  there 

1  Goat  Island,  p.  28.  This  most  interesting  pamphlet  by  Mr.  Porter  will 
be  found  quite  a  complete  guide  to  a  study  of  Niagara  Falls,  and  is  most 
worthy  the  perusal  of  those  who  care  to  examine  more  than  the  mere 
surface  of  things  at  Niagara. 


2o  The  Niagara  River 


^v 


is  no  better  method  of  describing  this  almost  indescrib- 
able wonder  than  by  taking  the  familiar  walk  about 
them  beginning  at  the  common  point  of  commence- 
ment, Prospect  Point. 

It  is  important  on  visiting  the  Falls  for  the  first 
time  to  obtain  as  good  a  view  as  possible,  as  the  first 
view  comes  but  once.  Many  are  somewhat  disap- 
pointed with  it,  since  from  a  distance  the  Falls  give 
the  idea  of  a  long  low  wall  of  water,  their  great  height 
being  offset  by  their  great  breadth  of  almost  a  mile. 
The  best  view  is  from  the  top  of  the  bank  on  the  Cana- 
dian side;  but  as  most  of  the  tourists  reach  the  Ameri- 
can side  first  it  is  from  this  standpoint  that  most  visitors 
gain  their  first  impression.  No  better  vantage  ground 
can  be  gained  on  the  American  side  than  Prospect 
Point.  Here,  placed  at  the  northern  end  of  the  Amer- 
ican cataract,  is  the  best  position  to  make  a  study  of 
the  geography  of  Niagara.  Stretching  from  your  feet 
along  the  line  of  sight  extends  the  American  Fall 
to  a  distance  of  1060  feet.  At  the  other  side  of  the 
American  Fall  is  the  Goat  Island  group.  This  group 
stretches  along  the  cliff  for  a  distance  of  1300  feet 
more.  Beyond  this  extends  the  line  of  the  Horse- 
shoe Fall  for  a  further  distance  of  3010  feet,  making 
in  all  a  total  of  slightly  over  a  mile.  To  the  right, 
down  the  river  is  the  gorge  which  Niagara  has  been 
chiseling  and  scouring  for  unnumbered  centuries;  this 
chasm  extends  almost  due  north  for  a  distance  of  seven 
miles  to  Lewiston.  Down  the  gorge  the  gaze  is  unin- 
terrupted for  a  distance  of  nearly  two  miles,  almost  to 
the  Whirlpool  where  the  river  turns  abruptly  to  the 
left  on  entering  this  whirling  maelstrom,  issuing  again 
almost  at   right  angles  to  continue  its  mad  plunges. 


The  View  from  Prospect  Point. 
From,  a  photograph  by  Notman,  Montreal. 


Buffalo  and  the  Upper  Niagara  21 

To  the  left,  up  the  river  lie  the  American  Rapids, 
where  the  water  rushes  on  in  its  madness  to  hurl  its 
volume  over  the  160  feet  of  precipice  and  into  the  awful 
chasm  below.  Just  below  Prospect  Point  and  some- 
what higher  in  altitude  than  it,  is  what  has  been  called 
Hennepin's  View,  so  named  after  Father  Hennepin, 
who  gave  the  first  written  description  of  the  Niagara. 
Here  one  sees  not  only  the  Horseshoe  Fall  in  the  fore- 
ground, as  at  Prospect  Point,  but  the  American  Fall 
also,  which  lies  several  feet  lower  than  our  point  of 
vantage. 

Proceeding  up  the  river  the  next  point  of  interest 
reached  is  the  steel  bridge  to  Goat  Island.  The  first 
bridge  to  this  island  was  constructed  by  Judge  Porter 
in  1 81 7  about  forty  rods  above  the  site  of  the  present 
one.  In  the  spring  of  the  next  year  this  bridge  was 
swept  away  by  the  large  cakes  of  ice  coming  down  the 
river.  It  was  rebuilt  at  its  present  site,  its  projector 
judging  that  the  added  descent  of  the  rapids  would 
so  break  up  the  ice  as  to  eliminate  any  danger  to  the 
structure;  and  the  results  proved  his  theory  true.  This 
structure  stood  until  1855  when  its  place  was  taken 
by  a  steel  arch  bridge,  which  served  the  public  until 
1900.  In  that  year  the  present  structure  authorised 
by  the  State  of  New  York  took  its  place. 

Looking  upon  this  structure,  one  wonders  how  the 
foundations  could  possibly  have  been  laid  in  such  an 
irresistible  current  of  water.  First,  two  of  the  largest 
trees  to  be  found  in  the  vicinity  were  cut  down  and 
hewn  flat  on  two  sides.  A  level  platform  was  erected 
on  the  shore  at  the  water's  edge  and  on  this  the  hewn 
logs  were  placed  about  eight  feet  apart,  supported  on 
rollers  with  their  shore  ends  heavily  weighted  with 


22  The  Niagara  River 

stone.  These  logs  were  then  run  as  far  out  over  the 
river  as  possible,  and  a  man  walked  out  on  each  one 
armed  with  an  iron  pointed  staff.  On  finding  a  crevice 
in  the  rock  forming  the  bottom  of  the  river,  these 
staffs  were  driven  firmly  into  the  rock  and  then  lashed 
to  the  ends  of  the  timbers,  thus  forming  a  stay  to  them 
and  furnishing  the  means  necessary  for  beginning  the 
construction  of  the  crib.  The  timbers  were  planked, 
and  the  same  process  was  pursued  until  the  island  was 
reached. 

While  the  second  bridge  was  under  construction, 
the  famous  Indian  chieftain  and  orator,  Red  Jacket, 
visited  the  Falls.  The  old  veteran  is  said  to  have  sat 
for  a  long  time  watching  the  process  of  bridging  the 
angry  waters,  the  transforming  power  of  the  white  man 
at  work,  conquering  a  force  which  to  him  appeared 
more  than  able  to  baffle  all  the  ingenuity  of  man.-  On 
being  asked  by  a  bystander  what  he  thought  of  the 
work  of  construction  he  seemed  mortified  that  the 
white  man's  hand  should  so  desecrate  these  sacred 
waters;  folding  his  blanket  slowly  about  him,  with  his 
eyes  fixed  upon  the  works,  he  is  said  to  have  given 

forth  the  stereotyped  Indian  grunt,  adding  "  D n 

Yankee!" 

Upon  this  bridge  we  find  one  of  the  best  positions, 
as  we  have  noted,  from  which  to  view  the  Rapids. 
From  the  point  of  their  beginning,  about  a  mile  above 
the  Falls  to  the  crest  of  the  cliff  the  descent  is  over  fifty 
feet.  Here,  standing  upon  what  seems  in  comparison 
but  a  frail  structure,  one  can  realise  the  grandeur  of 
the  Rapids.  In  the  terrible  race  they  seem  to  be  trying 
to  tear  away  the  piers  of  the  bridge  which  are  fretting 
their  current. 


Chapter  II 

From  the  Falls  to  Lake  Ontario 

THESE  American  rivers  of  ours  have  their  mes- 
sages, historical,  economic,  and  social,  to  both 
reader  and  loiterer.  And,  too,  are  not  these 
streams  so  very  much  alive  that  through  the 
years  their  personalities  remain  practically  unchanged, 
while  generations  of  loiterers  come  and  go  on  forever? 
Are  not  the  eccentricities  of  these  great  living  forces 
forever  recurrent,  however  whimsical  they  may  seem, 
to  us  as  we  stop  for  our  brief  instant  at  the  shore  ? 

The  word  Niagara  stands  to-day  representing  power; 
the  most  common  metaphor  used,  perhaps,  to  represent 
perpetual  irresistible  force  is  found  in  the  name  Niagara. 
Now  it  is  admitted  that  nothing  is  more  interesting 
than  to  observe  the  contradictions  noticeable  in  most 
strong  personalities.  View  the  Niagara  from  this  per- 
sonal standpoint.  I  think  its  most  attractive  features 
may  be  summed  up  in  a  catalogue  of  its  eccentric 
contradictions.  It  is  famous  as  a  waterfall,  yet  its 
greatest  beauty  is  to  be  found  in  its  smallest  rapids. 
Its  thundering  fall  outrivals  all  other  sounds  of  Nature, 
yet  you  can  hear  a  sparrow  sing  when  the  spray  of  the 
torrent  is  drenching  you;  the  "noise"  of  Niagara  is 
often  spoken  of  as  the  greatest  sound  ever  heard,  yet 
most  of   the  cataract's  music   has  never  been  heard 

because  it  is  pitched  too  low  for  human  ears.     Niag- 

23 


24  The  Niagara  River 

ara's  Whirlpool  is  a  placid,  mirrored  lake  compared  to 
the  rapids  above  and  below  it  and  brings  from  the 
lips  of  the  majority  of  sightseers,  looking  only  at  the 
surface  of  things,  words  of  disappointment.  The  great 
message  and  influence  of  the  foaming  cataract  and  rap- 
ids and  terrible  pool,  to  all  awake  to  the  finer  meanings, 
as  has  been  so  beautifully  brought  out  by  Mr.  Howells, 
should  be  one  of  singular  repose.  The  louder  the  music 
the  more  certain  the  strange  influence  of  this  message 
of  quiet  and  calm. 

Take,  for  instance,  what  is  so  commonly  called  the 
roar  of  Niagara,  but  which  ought  to  be  known  as  the 
music  of  Niagara,  first  at  the  Rapids  and  then  the  Falls. 

There  is  sweet  music  in  Niagara's  lesser  rapids.  Mrs. 
Schuyler  Van  Rensselaer  observes,  most  felicitously: 

It  is  a  great  and  mighty  noise,  but  it  is  not,  as  Hennepin 
thought,  an  "outrageous  noise."  It  is  not  a  roar.  It  does  not 
drown  the  voice  or  stun  the  ear.  Even  at  the  actual  foot  of  the 
falls  it  is  not  oppressive.  It  is  much  less  rough  than  the  sound 
of  heavy  surf — steadier,  more  homogeneous,  less  metallic,  very 
deep  and  strong,  yet  mellow  and  soft;  soft,  I  mean,  in  its  quality. 
As  to  the  noise  of  the  rapids,  there  is  none  more  musical.  It  is 
neither  rumbling  nor  sharp.  It  is  clear,  plangent,  silvery.  It 
is  so  like  the  voice  of  a  steep  brook — much  magnified,  but  not 
made  coarser  or  more  harsh — that,  after  we  have  known  it,  each 
liquid  call  from  a  forest  hillside  will  seem,  like  the  odour  of  grape- 
vines, a  greeting  from  Niagara.  It  is  an  inspiriting,  an  exhila- 
rating sound,  like  freshness,  coolness,  vitality  itself  made  audible. 
And  yet  it  is  a  lulling  sound.  When  we  have  looked  out  upon 
the  American  rapids  for  many  days,  it  is  hard  to  remember  con- 
tented life  amid  motionless  surroundings;  and  so,  when  we  have 
slept  beside  them  for  many  nights,  it  is  hard  to  think  of  happy 
sleep  in  an  empty  silence. 

A  most  original  and  interesting  study  of  the  music 


o 

^3 


O 

O 


From  the  Falls  to  Lake  Ontario  25 

of  the  great  Falls  was  made  some  years  ago  in  a  more 
or  less  technical  way  by  Eugene  Thayer.1  It  had  been 
this  gentleman's  theory  that  Niagara  had  never  been 
heard  as  it  should  be  heard,  and  his  mission  at  the  cat- 
aract was  accomplished  when  there  met  his  ears,  not 
the  "roar,"  but,  rather,  a  perfectly  constructed  musical 
tone,  clear,  definite,  and  unapproachable  in  its  majestic 
proportions ;  in  fact  Mr.  Thayer  affirms  that  the  trained 
ear  at  Niagara  should  hear  "  a  complete  series  of  tones, 
all  uniting  in  one  grand  and  noble  unison,  as  in  the 
organ,  and  all  as  easily  recognisable  as  the  notes  of  any 
great  chord  in  music."  He  had  heard  it  rumoured  that 
persons  had  been  known  to  secure  a  pitch  of  the  tone 
of  Niagara;  he  essayed  to  secure  not  only  the  pitch 
of  the  chief  or  ground  tone,  but  that  of  all  accessory 
or  upper  tones  otherwise  known  as  harmonic  or  over- 
tones, together  with  the  beat  or  accent  of  the  Falls 
and  its  rhythmical  vibrations. 

All  the  tones  above  the  ground  tone  have  been  named  over- 
tones or  harmonics;  the  tones  below  are  called  the  subharmonics, 
or  undertones.  It  will  be  noticed  that  they  form  the  complete 
natural  harmony  of  the  ground  tone.  What  is  the  real  pitch 
of  this  chord?  According  to  our  regular  musical  notation,  the 
fourth  note  given  represents  the  normal  pitch  of  diapason;  the 
reason  being  that  the  eight-foot  tone  is  the  only  one  that  gives 
the  notes  as  written.  According  to  nature,  I  must  claim  the 
first,  or  lowest  note,  as  the  real  or  ground  tone.  In  this  latter 
way  I  shall  represent  the  true  tone  or  pitch  of  Niagara. 

How  should  I  prove  all  this?  My  first  step  was  to  visit  the 
beautiful  Iris  Island,  otherwise  known  as  Goat  Island.  Donning 
a  suit  of  oilcloth  and  other  disagreeable  loose  stuff,  I  followed 
the  guide  into  the  Cave  of  the  Winds.  Of  course,  the  sensation 
at  first  was  so  novel  and  overpowering  that  the  question  of  pitch 

1  Scribner's  Monthly,  vol.  xxi.,  pp.  583-6. 


26  The  Niagara  River 

was  lost  in  one  of  personal  safety.  Remaining  here  a  few  min- 
utes, I  emerged  to  collect  my  dispersed  thoughts.  After  regain- 
ing myself,  I  returned  at  once  to  the  point  of  beginning,  and  went 
slowly  in  again  (alone),  testing  my  first  question  of  pitch  all  the 
way;  that  is,  during  the  approach,  while  under  the  fall,  while 
emerging,  and  while  standing  some  distance  below  the  face  of 
the  fall,  not  only  did  I  ascertain  this  (I  may  say  in  spite  of  my- 
self, for  I  could  hear  but  one  pitch) ,  but  I  heard  and  sang  clearly 
the  pitch  of  all  the  harmonic  or  accessory  tones,  only  of  course 
several  octaves  higher  than  their  actual  pitch.  Seven  times 
have  I  been  under  these  singing  waters  (always  alone  except  the 
first  time),  and  the  impression  has  invariably  been  the  same,  so 
far  as  determining  the  tone  and  its  components.  I  may  be  al- 
lowed to  withhold  the  result  until  I  speak  of  my  experience  at 
the  Horseshoe  Fall,  and  the  American  Fall  proper — it  being 
scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  the  Cave  of  the  Winds  is  under  the 
smaller  cascade,  known  as  the  Central  Fall. 

My  next  step  was  to  stand  on  Luna  Island,  above  the  Central 
Fall,  and  on  the  west  side  of  the  American  Fall  proper.  I  went 
to  the  extreme  eastern  side  of  the  island,  in  order  to  lose  as  far 
as  possible  the  sound  of  the  Central  Fall,  and  get  the  full  force 
of  the  larger  Fall.  Here  were  the  same  great  ground  tone  and 
the  same  harmonics,  differing  only  somewhat  in  pitch. 

I  then  went  over  to  the  Horseshoe  Fall  and  sat  among  the 
Rapids.  There  it  was  again,  only  slightly  higher  in  pitch  than 
on  the  American  side.  Not  then  knowing  the  fact,  I  ventured 
to  assert  that  the  Horseshoe  Fall  was  less  in  height,  by  several 
feet,  than  the  American  Fall;  the  actual  difference  is  variously 
given  at  from  six  to  twelve  feet.  Next  I  went  to  the  Three 
Sister  Islands,  and  here  was  the  same  old  story.  The  higher 
harmonics  were  mostly  inaudible  from  the  noise  of  the  Rapids, 
but  the  same  two  low  notes  were  ringing  out  clear  and  un- 
mistakable. In  fact,  wherever  I  was  I  could  not  hear  anything 
else !  There  was  no  roar  at  all,  but  the  same  grand  diapason — 
the  noblest  and  completest  one  on  earth!  I  use  the  word  com- 
pletest  advisedly,  for  nothing  else  on  earth,  not  even  the  ocean, 
reaches  anywhere  near  the  actual  depth  of  pitch,  or  makes 
audible  to  the  human  ear  such  a  complete  and  perfect  harmonic 
structure. 


Horseshoe  Falls  from  Below 


From  the  Falls  to  Lake  Ontario 


27 


Remembering  always  that  the  actual  pitch  is  four  octaves 
lower,  here  are  the  notes  which  form  this  matchless  diapason : 


M.M.  6)  =  60. 


*  j  *  *  *  »  >  JsdSSdddddddddddd  www 


Mrs.  Van  Rensselaer  tells  us  there  is  yet  another 
music  at  Niagara  that  must  be  listened  for  only  on 
quiet  nights.  It  is  like  the  music  of  an  orchestra  so 
very  far  away  that  its  notes  are  attenuated  to  an 
incredible  delicacy  and  are  intermittently  perceived,  as 
though  wafted  to  us  on  variable  zephyrs. 

It  is  the  most  subtle,  the  most  mysterious  music  in  the  world. 
What  is  its  origin?  Such  fairy-like  sounds  are  not  to  be  ex- 
plained. Their  appeal  is  to  the  imagination  only.  They  are 
so  faint,  so  far  away,  that  they  almost  escape  the  ear,  as  the 
lunar  bow  and  the  fluted  tints  of  the  American  Fall  almost  escape 
the  eye.  And  yet  we  need  not  fear  to  lose  them,  for  they  are  as 
real  as  the  deep  bass  of  the  cataracts. 


Whether  it  be  the  resounding  waterfall  producing 
this  wondrous  harmony  of  the  floods,  or  the  most 
charming  choral  of  the  Rapids,  the  music  of  Niagara 
on  the  mind  properly  adjusted  and  attuned  must  create 
a  most  profound  impression  of  repose.     The  exception 


2&  The  Niagara  River 

to  this  rule,  most  terrible  to  contemplate,  is  certainly 
to  be  found  in  the  cases  of  the  unfortunates  whose  minds 
are  so  distraught  or  unbalanced  that  this  same  call  of 
the  waters  acts  like  poison  and  lures  them  to  death. 

I  still  think  [wrote  Mr.  Howells  in  his  most  delightful  sketch, 
Niagara,  First  and  Last]  that,  above  and  below  the  Falls,  the 
Rapids  are  the  most  striking  features  of  the  spectacle.  At  least 
you  may  say  something  about  them,  compare  them  to  some- 
thing; when  you  come  to  the  cataract  itself  you  can  say  nothing; 
it  is  incomparable.  My  sense  of  it  first,  and  my  sense  of  it  last, 
was  not  a  sense  of  the  stupendous,  but  a  sense  of  beauty,  of 
serenity,  of  repose. 

In  her  beautiful  description,  given  elsewhere  in  our 
story,  Margaret  Fuller  explains  the  effect  of  the  Rapids 
by  moonlight  on  the  heart  of  one  who,  during  the  day, 
had  passed  through  the  familiar  throb  of  disappoint- 
ment in  the  great  spectacle  at  Niagara. 

Now  I  take  it  one  must  see  in  Niagara  this  element 
of  repose  or  find  in  it  something  less  than  was  hoped  for. 
To  one  who  expects  an  ocean  pouring  from  the  moon, 
a  rush  of  wind  and  foam  like  that  to  be  met  with  only 
in  the  Cave  of  the  Winds,  there  is  bound  to  come  that 
common  feeling  that  the  fact  is  not  equal  to  the  picture 
imagination  had  previously  created.  Take  the  Whirl- 
pool; seen  from  the  heights  above,  it 

has  that  effect  of  sculpturesque  repose  [writes  Mr.  Howells], 
which  I  have  always  found  the  finest  thing  in  the  Cataract  itself. 
From  the  top  the  circling  lines  of  the  Whirlpool  seemed  graven  in 
a  level  of  chalcedony.  ...  I  have  no  impression  to  impart  except 
this  sense  of  its  worthy  unity  with  the  Cataract  in  what  I  may 
call  its  highest  aesthetic  quality,  its  repose.1 

All  this  is  most  impressively  true  of  the  central  won- 

1  The  Niagara  Book,  p.  15. 


C/2    ~ 
w    o 


co   ST 


O     be 

~    c 


P^ 


From  the  Falls  to  Lake  Ontario  29 

der  of  the  entire  spectacle,  the  Falls  themselves.  That 
mighty  flood  of  water,  reborn  as  it  dies,  forms  a  marvel- 
lous spectacle.     Writes  Mrs.  Schuyler  Van  Rensselaer: 

Very  soon  we  realise  that  Niagara's  true  effect  is  an  effect  of 
permanence.  Many  as  are  its  variations,  it  never  alters.  It 
varies  because  light  and  atmosphere  alter.  Tremendous  move- 
ment thus  pauseless  and  unmodified  gives,  of  course,  a  deeper 
impression  of  durability  than  the  most  imposing  solids.  ...  As 
soon  as  this  fact  is  felt,  the  Falls  seem  to  have  been  created  as  a 
voucher  for  the  permanence  of  all  the  world. l 

But  how  conform  this  repose  and  spirit  of  perma- 
nency with  the  echoing  tones  of  that  never-ending, 
never-satisfied  dominant  chord  ?  How  reconcile  the  re- 
pose of  those  dropping  billows  with  the  tantalising  un- 
rest of  that  for  ever  incomplete,  unfinished  recessional 
that  has  been  playing  down  this  gorge  since,  perhaps, 
darkness  brooded  over  the  deep — that  seems  to  await 
its  fulfilment  in  the  thtmders  of  Sinai  at  that  Last  Da}-? 

And  what  could  be  more  human  than  this  in  any 
river — a  seeming  calm  with  over  it  all  a  never-ending 
cry  of  unrest,  of  wonder,  of  unsatisfied  longing  never 
to  find  repose  until  in  that  far  resting-place  of  which 
Augustine  thought  when  he  wrote: 

Our  hearts  are  restless  until  they  rest  in  Thee. 

Across  the  American  Rapids  lies  the  Goat  Island 
group  which  divides  the  waters  into  the  two 
falls.  Goat  Island  is  about  half  a  mile  long  and 
half  as  wide  at  its  broadest  part,  but  slopes  to  a 
point  at  its  eastern  extremity.  Its  area  is  about 
seventy   acres.     Besides   this   there   are   a  number  of 

1  The  Century  l\Iagazi)ie,  vol.  xxxvi.,  p.  197. 


30  The  Niagara  River 

smaller  islands  and  rocks  varying  in  diameter  from 
four  hundred  feet  to  ten  feet.  Of  these  smaller 
islands  five  are  connected  with  Goat  Island  by  bridges , 
as  are  also  the  Terrapin  Rocks. 

At  the  end  of  the  first  bridge  is  situated  Green 
Island,  named  after  the  first  president  of  the  Board  of 
Commissioners  of  the  New  York  Reservation.  The 
former  name  was  Bath  Island  because  ol  the  "old 
swimming  hole" — the  only  place  where  one  could  dip 
in  the  fierce  current  of  Niagara  without  danger.  Just 
a  short  distance  above  Green  Island  are  two  small 
patches  of  land  called  Ship  Island  and  Bird  Island 
from  supposed  resemblances  to  these  objects  in  general 
contour,  the  tall  leafless  trees  in  winter  supposed  to  be 
suggestive  of  masts.  These  islands  were  formerly 
both  connected  with  Goat  Island  by  bridges;  one, 
known  as  "Lover's  Bridge,"  from  its  romantic  name 
was  so  greatly  patronised  that  both  bridges  were 
destroyed   by  the  owners   on   account  of  danger. 

On  Green  Island  formerly  stood  the  immense 
Porter  paper-mill,  which  not  only  contributed  its 
own  ugliness  to  the  beautiful  prospect  but  also  ran 
out  into  the  current  long  gathering  dams  for  the 
purpose  of  collecting  water.  All  this  was  removed 
when  the  State  of  New  York  assumed  control. 

Passing  from  the  bridge  and  ascending  the  steps 
which  lead  to  the  top  of  the  bank,  the  shelter  house  is 
reached.  All  around  and,  in  fact,  covering  nearly  all  the 
island,  is  the  primeval  forest  in  its  ancient  splendour — 
fit  companion  of  the  Falls,  which  defy  the  puny  power 
of  man. 

Occasional  glimpses  of  the  river  may  be  had  through 
the  dense  foliage  as  one  proceeds  to  Stedman  Bluff, 


Rustic  Bridge,  Willow  Island. 


From  the  Falls  to  Lake  Ontario  31 

where  one  of  the  grandest  panoramas  to  be  seen 
anywhere  on  earth  bursts  upon  the  view.  Here  one 
appreciates  the  beauty  of  the  American  Fall  better  than 
at  Prospect  Point.  Turning  towards  the  American 
shore  stone  steps  lead  down  to  the  water's  edge,  and 
thence  a  small  bridge  spans  the  stream  separating 
Goat  Island  and  Luna  Island,  so  called  from  the  fact 
that  it  has  been  considered  the  best  place  from  which 
to  view  the  lunar  bow.  The  small  stream  dividing 
these  islands  in  its  plunge  over  the  precipice  forms  the 
"Cave  of  the  Winds."  Half-way  across  Luna  Island 
is  to  be  seen  a  large  rock  on  whose  face  have  been  carved 
by  an  unknown  hand  the  following  lines : 

All  is  change. 
Eternal  progress. 
No  Death ! 

The  author  of  the  sentiment  is  unknown,  but  no  one 
has  more  truly  voiced  the  spirit  of  the  great  cataract. 
From  the  edge  of  the  cliff  on  Luna  Island  is  to  be 
obtained  the  finest  view  down  the  gorge.  Along  the 
front  of  the  American  Fall  are  to  be  seen  the  immense 
masses  of  wave-washed  rocks  which  have  fallen  from 
the  cliff  above.  From  rock  to  rock  stretch  frail  wooden 
bridges,  the  more  important  of  which  lead  to  the  cave. 
Luna  Island  is  the  last  point  which  one  can  reach 
from  Goat  Island  toward  the  American  shore.  Pro- 
ceeding toward  the  Canadian  Fall,  one  reaches  at  a 
short  distance  the  Biddle  Stairs.  Here  a  break  in  the 
foliage  reveals  a  grand  view  down  the  gorge  with  the 
Canadian  Fall  directly  in  front.  A  stairway  leads  to  a 
wooden  building  down  which  runs  a  spiral  stairway  to 
the  rocks  below.    This  stairway  received  its  name  from 


32  The  Niagara  River 

Nicholas  Biddle,  of  old  National  Bank  fame,  who  pro- 
posed this  means  of  reaching  the  rocks  below  and 
offered  a  contribution  for  its  construction.  The  offer 
was  rejected,  but  his  name  was  given  to  the  structure. 
A  trip  to  the  rocks  below  this  point  is  well  worth 
while,  difficult  though  it  be;  the  descent  of  the  spiral 
stairway  is  eighty  feet.  Turning  to  the  right  one  comes 
out  upon  a  ledge  of  rock  with  the  roaring  waters  below 
and  the  line  of  the  cliff  above,  along  the  top  of  which 
objects  appear  at  only  half  their  real  size.  Passing 
around  a  short  curve  there  bursts  upon  one's  view 
the  fall  which  forms  the  Cave  of  the  Winds — a 
most  beautiful  sheet  of  water.  The  passage  of  the 
cave  can  hardly  be  described  by  the  pen.  Here  one  is 
assailed  on  all  sides  by  fierce  storms  and  clouds  of 
angry  spray.  The  cave  seems  at  first  dark  and  repelling, 
for  in  this  maddening  whirl  of  wind  and  water  one  is 
at  first  almost  blinded ;  but  as  soon  as  the  eye  becomes 
accustomed  to  the  darkness,  it  can  follow  the  graceful 
curve  of  the  water  to  where  it  leaves  the  cliff  above. 
The  dark,  forbidding,  terraced  rocks  are  seen  dripping 
with  water.  The  passage  of  the  cave  is  too  exciting  to 
be  essayed  by  persons  with  weak  hearts,  but  the 
return  across  the  rocks  in  front  of  it  on  a  bright  day  is 
genuinely  inspiring.  Here  the  symbol  of  promise  is 
brought  down  within  one's  very  reach;  above,  around, 
on  all  sides  are  to  be  seen  colours  rivalling  the  con- 
ception of  any  artist — whole  circles  of  bows,  quarter 
circles,  half  circles,  here  within  one's  very  grasp.  The 
far  fabled  pot  of  gold  is  here  a  boiling,  seething  mass  of 
running,  shimmering  silver.  If  possible,  more  glorious 
than  all  else,  up  above,  along  the  sky-line,  there 
appears  the  shining  crest  of  the  American  Fall,  glim- 


The  Cave  of  the  Winds. 


From  the  Falls  to  Lake  Ontario  33 

mering  in  the  sunlight  like  the  silvery  range  of  some 
snow-covered  mountains. 

In  size  the  cave  is  about  one  hundred  feet  wide,  a 
hundred  feet  deep,  and  about  one  hundred  and  sixty 
feet  high.  At  one  point  in  the  cave,  on  a  bright  day, 
by  standing  in  the  very  edge  of  the  spray,  one  be- 
comes the  centre  of  a  complete  circle  of  rainbows,  an 
experience  probably  unequalled  elsewhere. 

About  half-way  between  the  stairway  and  the  cave 
is  the  point  from  which,  in  1829,  Sam  Patch  made  his 
famous  leap,  elsewhere  described. 

On  the  side  of  the  Horseshoe  Fall  is  to  be  found  a 
fine  position  from  which  to  view  the  mighty  force  of 
the  greater  mass  of  waters.  For  some  distance  along 
the  front  of  the  fall  immense  masses  of  rock  have 
accumulated.  The  trip  over  these  rocks  is  fraught  with 
danger  and  is  taken  by  very  few.  For  those  who  care  to 
take  the  risk,  the  sight  is  well  worth  the  effort.  Just 
above  at  the  crest  are  Terrapin  Rocks,  where  formerly 
stood  Terrapin  Tower.  Professor  Tyndall  went  far  out 
beyond  the  line  of  Terrapin  Rocks  to  a  point  which  has 
been  reached  by  very  few  of  the  millions  of  visitors 
to  this  shrine.  Passing  along  the  cliff  toward  Canada, 
Porter's  Bluff  is  soon  reached,  which  furnishes  one 
of  the  grandest  views  of  the  Horseshoe  Fall.  Fifty 
years  ago,  from  this  point  one  could  see  the  whole  line 
of  the  graceful  curve  of  the  Horseshoe;  since  that 
time  the  rapid  erosion  in  the  middle  of  the  river  (where 
the  volume  is  greatest)  has  destroyed  almost  all  trace 
of  what  the  name  suggests.  The  sides  meet  now  at  a 
very  acute  angle,  the  old  contour  having  been  entirely 
destroyed. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  experiments  conducted 


34  The  Niagara  River 

under  these  great  masses  of  falling  water  was  essayed 
by  the  well-known  English  traveller  Captain  Basil 
Hall  in  1827.  It  seems  that  Babbage  and  Herschel 
had  said  that  there  was  reason  to  expect  a  change  of 
elastic  pressure  in  the  air  near  a  waterfall.  Bethink- 
ing himself  of  the  opportunity  of  testing  this  theory 
at  Niagara  during  his  American  tour,  Captain  Hall 
secured  a  mountain  barometer  of  most  delicate  work- 
manship for  this  specific  purpose.  In  a  letter  to 
Professor  Silliman  the  experimenter  described  his 
experience  as  follows,  the  question  being  of  interest  to 
every  one  who  has  attempted  to  breathe  when  passing 
behind  any  portion  of  this  wall  of  falling  water: 

I  think  you  told  me  that  you  did  not  enter  this  singular 
cave  on  your  late  journey,  which  I  regret  very  much,  because 
I  have  no  hope  of  being  able  to  describe  it  to  you.  In  the  whole 
course  of  my  life,  I  never  encountered  anything  so  formidable 
in  appearance;  and  yet,  I  am  half  ashamed  to  say  so,  I  saw  it 
performed  by  many  other  people  without  emotion,  and  it  is 
daily  accomplished  by  ladies,  who  think  they  have  done  nothing 
remarkable. 

You  are  perhaps  aware  that  it  is  a  standing  topic  of  contro- 
versy every  summer  by  the  company  at  the  great  hotels  near 
the  Falls,  whether  the  air  within  the  sheet  of  water  is  condensed 
or  rarefied.  I  have  therefore  a  popular  motive  as  well  as  a 
scientific  one,  in  conducting  this  investigation,  and  the  result, 
I  hope,  will  prove  satisfactory  to  the  numerous  persons  who 
annually  visit  Niagara. 

As  a  first  step  I  placed  the  barometer  at  a  distance  of  about 
150  feet  from  the  extreme  western  end  of  the  Falls,  on  a  flat 
rock  as  nearly  as  possible  on  a  level  with  the  top  of  the  "talus" 
or  bank  of  shingle  lying  at  the  base  of  the  overhanging  cliff, 
from  which  the  cataract  descends.  This  station  was  about  30 
perpendicular  feet  above  the  pool  basin  into  which  the  water 
falls. 

The  mercury  here  stood  at  29.68  inches.     I  then  moved  the 


From  the  Falls  to  Lake  Ontario  35 

instrument  to  another  rock  within  10  or  12  feet  of  the  edge  of 
the  fall,  where  it  was  placed,  by  means  of  a  levelling  instrument, 
exactly  at  the  same  height  as  in  the  first  instance. 

It  still  stood  at  29.68  and  the  only  difference  I  could  observe 
was  a  slight  continuous  vibration  of  about  two  or  three  hun- 
dredths of  an  inch  at  intervals  of  a  few  seconds. 

So  far,  all  was  plain  sailing;  for,  though  I  was  soundly  ducked 
by  this  time,  there  was  no  particular  difficulty  in  making  these 
observations.  But  within  the  sheet  of  water,  there  is  a  violent 
wind,  caused  by  the  air  carried  down  by  the  falling  water,  and 
this  makes  the  case  very  different.  Every  stream  of  falling 
water,  as  you  know,  produces  more  or  less  a  blast  of  this  nature ; 
but  I  had  no  conception  that  so  great  an  effect  could  have  been 
produced  by  this  cause. 

I  am  really  at  a  loss  how  to  measure  it,  but  I  have  no  hesita- 
tion in  saying  that  it  exceeds  the  most  furious  squall  or  gust  of 
wind  I  have  ever  met  with  in  any  part  of  the  world.  The  direc- 
tion of  the  blast  is  generally  slanting  upwards,  from  the  surface 
of  the  pool,  and  is  chiefly  directed  against  the  face  of  the  cliff, 
which  being  of  a  friable,  shaly  character,  is  gradually  eaten  away 
so  that  the  top  of  the  precipice  now  overhangs  the  base  35  or  40 
feet  and  in  a  short  time  I  should  think  the  upper  strata  will 
prove  too  weak  for  the  enormous  load  of  water,  which  they  bear, 
when  the  whole  cliff  will  tumble  down. 

These  vehement  blasts  are  accompanied  by  floods  of  water, 
much  more  compact  than  the  heaviest  thunder  shower,  and  as 
the  light  is  not  very  great  the  situation  of  the  experimenter  with 
a  delicate  barometer  in  his  hand  is  one  of  some  difficulty. 

By  the  assistance  of  the  guide,  however,  who  proved  a  steady 
and  useful  assistant,  I  managed  to  set  the  instrument  up  within 
a  couple  of  feet  of  the  "termination  rock"  as  it  is  called,  which 
is  at  the  distance  of  153  feet  from  the  side  of  the  waterfall 
measured  horizontally  along  the  top  of  the  bank  of  shingle. 
This  measurement,  it  is  right  to  mention,  was  made  a  few  days 
afterward  by  Mr.  Edward  Deas-Thompson  of  London,  the  guide, 
and  myself  with  a  graduated  tape. 

While  the  guide  held  the  instrument  firmly  down,  which 
required  nearly  all  his  force,  I  contrived  to  adjust  it,  so  that  the 
spirit  level  on  the  top  indicated  that  the  tube  was  in  the  perpen- 


36  The  Niagara  River 

dicular  position.  It  would  have  been  utterly  useless  to  have 
attempted  any  observation  without  this  contrivance.  I  then 
secured  all  tight,  unscrewed  the  bag,  and  allowed  the  mercury 
to  subside ;  but  it  was  many  minutes  before  I  could  obtain  even 
a  tolerable  reading,  for  the  water  flowed  over  my  brows  like 
a  thick  veil,  threatening  to  wash  the  whole  affair,  philosophers 
and  all,  into  the  basin  below.  I  managed,  however,  after  some 
minutes'  delay  to  make  a  shelf  or  spout  with  my  hand,  which 
served  to  carry  the  water  clear  of  that  part  of  the  instrument 
which  I  wished  to  look  at  and  also  to  leave  my  eyes  comparatively 
free.  I  now  satisfied  myself  by  repeated  trials  that  the  sur- 
face of  the  mercurial  column  did  not  rise  higher  than  29.72.  It 
was  sometimes  at  29.70  and  may  have  vibrated  two  or  three 
hundredths  of  an  inch.  This  station  was  about  10  or  12  feet 
lower  than  the  external  ones  and  therefore  I  should  have  expected 
a  slight  rise  in  the  mercury;  but  I  do  not  pretend  to  have  read 
off  the  scale  to  any  great  nicety,  though  I  feel  quite  confident 
of  having  succeeded  in  ascertaining  that  there  was  no  sensible 
difference  between  the  elasticity  of  the  air  at  the  station  on  the 
outside  of  the  Falls  and  that,  153  feet  within  them. 

I  now  put  the  instrument  up  and  having  walked  back  towards 
the  mouth  of  this  wonderful  cave  about  30  feet,  tried  the  experi- 
ment again.  The  mercury  stood  now  at  29.68,  or  at  29.70  as 
near  as  I  could  observe  it.  On  coming  again  into  the  open  air 
I  took  the  barometer  to  one  of  the  first  stations,  but  was  much 
disappointed  though  I  cannot  say  surprised  to  observe  it  full 
of  air  and  water  and  consequently  for  the  time  quite  destroyed. 

My  only  surprise,  indeed,  was  that  under  such  circumstances 
the  air  and  water  were  not  sooner  forced  in.  But  I  have  no 
doubt  that  the  two  experiments  on  the  outside  as  well  as  the 
two  within  the  sheet  of  water  were  made  by  the  instrument 
when  it  was  in  a  correct  state:  though  I  do  not  deny  that  it 
would  have  been  more  satisfactory  to  have  verified  this  by 
repeating  the  observations  at  the  first  station. 

On  mentioning  these  results  to  the  contending  parties  in  the 
controversy,  both  asked  me  the  same  question,  "How  then  do 
you  account  for  the  difficulty  in  breathing  which  all  persons 
experience  who  go  behind  the  sheet  of  water?"  To  which  I 
replied:  "That  if  any  one  were  exposed  to  the  spouts  of  half  a 


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From  the  Falls  to  Lake  Ontario  37 

dozen  fire  engines  playing  full  in  his  face  at  the  distance  of 
a  few  yards,  his  respiration  could  not  be  quite  free,  and  for  my 
part  I  conceived  that  this  rough  discipline  would  be  equally 
comfortable  in  other  respects  and  not  more  embarrassing  to  the 
lungs  than  the  action  of  the  blast  and  falling  water  behind  this 
amazing  cataract." 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  conceive  of  the  immense 
mass  of  water  tumbling  over  this  precipice.  It  has  been 
estimated  in  tons,  cubic  feet,  and  horse-power,  but 
the  figures  are  so  large  as  to  stagger  the  human  mind. 
Out  there  at  the  apex  of  the  angle,  the  water,  over 
twenty  feet  deep,  is  drawn  from  almost  half  a  continent, 
forming  a  picture  to  make  one's  nerves  thrill  with 
awe  and  delight,  where  the  international  boundary 
line  swings  back  and  forth  as  the  apex  of  the  angle 
formed  sways  from  side  to  side. 

Just  off  the  shore  of  the  island  are  seen  Terrapin 
Rocks.  Why  this  name  was  applied  is  uncertain. 
These  rocks  are  scattered  in  the  flood  to  the  very 
brink  of  the  fall  and  in  the  titanic  struggle  with  the 
rush  of  waters  seem  hardly  able  to  maintain  their 
position.  Upon  these  rocks  on  the  very  brink  of  the 
Falls  in  1833  was  erected,  by  Judge  Porter,  Terrapin 
Tower,  for  many  years  one  of  the  centres  visited  by 
every  person  journeying  to  the  Falls.  From  its  sum- 
mit could  be  seen  the  wild  rapids  rushing  on  toward  the 
precipice;  below  shimmering  green  of  the  fall.  Down, 
far  down,  in  the  depths  beneath  was  the  boiling, 
seething  caldron,  from  which  arose  beautiful  columns 
of  spray.  From  this  position,  forty-five  feet  above 
the  surface  of  the  water,  probably  a  more  comprehen- 
sive view  of  the  many  features  of  Niagara  could  be 
obtained   than   from   any   other  point.      Forty   }Tears 


8  The  Niagara  River 


0U  11^     i^"^ 


later  it  was  blown  up,  not  because  it  was  unsafe,  as  al- 
leged, but  that  it  might  not  prove  a  rival  attraction 
to  Prospect  Point.  Recently  suggestions  have  been 
made  looking  toward  the  restoration  of  this  ancient 
landmark,  but  no  definite  action  has  been  taken. 

Over  a  half-century  ago,  almost  opposite  this  tower 
on  the  Canadian  side,  was  to  be  seen  the  immense 
Table  Rock  hanging  far  out  over  the  current  below. 
On  the  25th  of  June,  1850,  this  large  mass  of  rock  fell. 
Fortunately  the  fall  occurred  at  noon  with  no  loss 
of  life ;  it  was  one  of  the  greatest  falls  of  rock  known  to 
have  taken  place  at  the  cataract,  for  the  dimensions 
of  the  rock  were  two  hundred  feet  long,  sixty  feet 
wide,  and  a  hundred  feet  deep.  Like  the  roar  of 
muffled  thunder  the  crash  was  heard  for  miles  around. 

It  was  from  the  Terrapin  Rocks  to  the  Canadian 
side  that  Blond  in  wished  to  stretch  his  rope,  elsewhere 
described,  and  it  was  over  the  very  centre  of  Niagara's 
warring  powers  he  desired  to  perform  his  daring  feat, 
looking  down  upon  that  shimmering  guarded  secret 
of  the  "Heart  of  Niagara."  The  Porters,  who  owned 
Goat  Island,  however,  refused  to  become  parties  to 
what  they  considered  an  improper  exposure  of  life  and 
Blondin  stretched  his  cable  farther  down  the  river, 
near  the  site  of  the  crescent  steel  arch  bridge. 

Standing  upon  these  rocks  and  looking  out  over 
that  hurrying  mass  of  waters,  it  seems  almost  impos- 
sible to  imagine  any  power  being  able  to  stop  them; 
but  on  the  29th  of  March,  1848,  the  impossible  hap- 
pened, the  Niagara  ran  dry.  From  the  American 
shore  across  the  rapids  to  Goat  Island  one  could  walk 
dry-shod.  From  Goat  Island  and  the  Canadian  shore 
the  waters  were  contracted  to  a  small  stream  flowing 


Remains  of  Stone  Piers  of  the  "First  Railway  in  America" 
the  British  Tramway  up  Lewiston  Heights,  1763. 


From  the  Falls  to  Lake  Ontario  39 

over  the  centre  of  what  was  then  the  Horseshoe ;  only  a 
few  tiny  rivulets  remained  falling  over  the  precipice  at 
other  points.  The  cause  of  this  unnatural  phenomenon 
was  wind  and  ice.  Lake  Erie  was  full  of  floating  ice. 
The  day  previous  the  winds  had  blown  this  ice  out  into 
the  lake.  In  the  evening  the  wind  suddenly  changed 
and  blew  a  sharp  gale  from  exactly  the  opposite 
direction,  driving  the  mass  of  ice  into  the  river  and 
gorging  it  there,  thus  cutting  off  almost  the  whole 
water  supply,  and  in  the  morning  people  awoke  to 
find  that  the  Niagara  had  departed.  The  American 
Fall  was  no  more,  the  Horseshoe  was  hardly  a  ghost 
of  its  former  self.  Gone  were  the  rapids,  the  righting, 
struggling  waters.  Niagara's  majestic  roar  was  re- 
duced to  a  moan.  All  day  people  walked  on  the  rock 
bed  of  the  river,  although  fearful  lest  the  dam  formed 
at  its  head  should  give  way  at  any  moment.  By 
night,  the  warmth  of  the  sun  and  the  waters  of  the 
lake  had  begun  to  make  inroads  on  the  barrier  and  by 
the  morning  of  the  next  day  Niagara  had  returned  in 
all  its  grandeur. 

However  cold  Niagara's  winter  may  be,  the  moan 
of  falling  water  here  can  always  be  heard,  though  at 
times  the  volume  is  very  small.  The  winter  scenes  here 
often  take  rank  in  point  of  wonder  and  beauty  with 
the  cataract  itself.  When  the  river  is  frozen  over  be- 
low the  Falls  the  phenomenon  is  called  an  "  Ice  Bridge," 
the  blowing  spray  sometimes  building  a  gigantic  spark- 
ling mound  of  wonderful  beauty.  The  island  trees 
above  the  Falls,  covered  by  the  same  spray,  assume 
curiously  beautiful  forms  which,  as  they  glitter  in  the 
sun,  turn  an  already  wonder-land  into  a  strange  fairy- 
land of  incomparable  whiteness  and  glory. 


40  The  Niagara  River 

A  short  distance  up  the  river  along  the  shore  a 
position  just  opposite  the  apex  of  the  Falls  is  reached. 
Here,  along  the  shore  of  the  island,  the  waters  are 
comparatively  shallow,  but  toward  the  Canadian  shore 
races  the  current  which  carries  fully  three  fourths 
of  Niagara's  volume.  Out  in  the  very  midst  of  the 
current  is  a  small  speck  of  land,  all  that  is  now  left  of 
what  was  once  Gull  Island,  so  named  from  its  having 
been  a  favourite  resting  place  for  these  birds,  which 
can  hardly  find  a  footing  now  on  its  contracted  shores. 
From  what  can  be  learned  of  the  past  history  of  this 
island,  it  must  have  occupied  about  two  acres  three 
quarters  of  a  century  ago.  Its  gradual  disappearance 
shows  to  what  degree  the  mighty  forces  of  Niagara 
are  removing  all  obstacles  placed  in  their  path.  Goat 
Island  is  gradually  suffering  the  same  fate.  At  points 
the  shore  line  has  encroached  upon  the  island  to  a 
distance  of  twenty  feet  in  a  half-century.  At  this 
point  the  carriage  road  used  to  run  out  beyond  the 
present  edge  of  the  bluff . 

Passing  on  along  the  shore  of  the  island,  Niagara's 
scenery  is  present  everywhere.  At  quite  a  distance  up 
stream  the  Three  Sister  Islands  are  reached.  These 
islands  were  named  from  the  three  daughters  of 
General  P.  Whitney,  they  being  the  first  women  to 
visit  them,  probably  in  winter  when  the  waters  were 
low. 

To  the  first  Sister  Island  leads  a  massive  stone 
bridge.  From  this  bridge  is  to  be  obtained  a  fine  view 
of  the  Hermit's  Cascade  beneath.  This  little  fall  re- 
ceives its  name  from  having  been  the  favourite  bath- 
ing place  of  the  Hermit  of  Niagara,  a  strange  half-witted 
young   Englishman   by  the  name  of    Francis  Abbott 


From  the  Falls  to  Lake  Ontario  41 

who  lived  in  solitude  here  for  two  years  preceding  his 
death  by  drowning  in  1831,  during  his  sojourn  at  the 
Falls. 

These  three  islands  are  replete  with  small  bits  of 
scenery  and  overflowing  with  beauty.  In  them  are  to 
be  found  the  smaller  attractions  of  Niagara;  not  so 
much  of  the  stern  majesty  and  awful  grandeur,  but 
smaller  and  more  comprehensible  features  come  before 
the  view  following  each  other  in  rapid  succession.  On 
the  second  Sister  Island  is  one  point  which  should 
be  visited  by  every  one.  Just  before  reaching  the 
bridge  to  third  Sister  Island,  by  turning  to  the  right 
and  proceeding  along  a  somewhat  difficult  path  for 
a  short  distance  one  comes  to  a  point  at  the  water's 
edge  and  finds  lying  right  below  him  the  boiling  waters 
with  their  white,  feathery  spray;  here  also  is  the  small 
cataract  between  the  second  and  third  islands  fed  by  the 
most  rapid  although  small  stream  of  Niagara.  From 
this  point  is  to  be  obtained  one  of  the  most  varied 
of  scenic  effects  of  any  point  at  the  Falls.  The  scenery 
from  the  third  Sister  must  be  seen  to  be  appreciated. 
From  its  upper  end  one  looks  directly  at  the  low  cliff 
which  forms  the  first  descent  of  the  Rapids.  Here  the 
waters  start  from  the  peaceful  stream  above  on  their 
maddening  race  for  the  Falls.  Out  along  the  line  of 
the  cliff  the  waters  deepen  and  increase  in  rapidity 
toward  the  Canadian  shore.  Just  below  this  ledge, 
probably  three  hundred  feet  from  the  head  of  the 
island,  the  current  is  directed  against  some  obstruction 
which  causes  it  to  spout  up  into  the  air,  causing  what 
is  called  the  Spouting  Rock. 

Many  have  been  the  changes  wrought  by  the  waters 
themselves   since   white   men    knew  the  Falls;  but  a 


42  The  Niagara  River 

thousand  years  hence  the  visitor  to  Niagara  will  behold 
the  main  fall  not  from  Terrapin  Rocks  or  Porter's  Bluff, 
but  from  this  third  Sister  Island.  The  Rapids  then 
shall  have  almost  entirely  disappeared, but  their  beauty 
will  be  compensated  for  by  the  additional  grandeur 
of  the  fall  itself.  The  gorge  will  have  widened  and 
the  fall  itself  shall  have  added  fifty  feet  to  its  height, 
making  it  two  hundred  feet  high.  Third  Sister  Island 
should  be  gone  over  thoroughly,  for  it  offers  some  of 
the  finest  views,  especially  of  colouring,  above  the  Falls, 
and  many  of  them. 

Niagara  owes  its  sublime  array  of  colour  to  the  purity 
of  its  water.  Nothing  finer  has  been  written  on  this 
subject  than  the  words  of  the  artist  Mrs.  Van  Rens- 
selaer, whom  we  quote: 

To  this  purity  Niagara  owes  its  exquisite  variety  of  colour. 
To  find  the  blues  we  must  look,  of  course,  above  Goat  Island, 
where  the  sky  is  reflected  in  smooth  if  quickly  flowing  currents. 
But  every  other  tint  and  tone  that  water  can  take  is  visible  in 
or  near  the  Falls  themselves.  In  the  quieter  parts  of  the  gorge 
we  find  a  very  dark,  strong  green,  while  in  its  rapids  all  shades 
of  green  and  grey  and  white  are  blended.  The  shallower  rapids 
above  the  Falls  are  less  strongly  coloured,  a  beautiful  light  green 
predominating  between  the  pale-grey  swirls  and  the  snowy  crests 
of  foam — semi-opaque,  like  the  stone  called  aquamarine,  be- 
cause infused  with  countless  air-bubbles,  yet  deliciously  fresh 
and  bright.  The  tense,  smooth  slant  of  water  at  the  margin  of 
the  American  fall  is  not  deep  enough  to  be  green.  In  the  sun- 
shine it  is  a  clear  amber,  and  when  shadowed,  a  brown  that  is 
darker,  yet  just  as  pure.  But  wherever  the  Canadian  fall  is 
visible  its  green  crest  is  conspicuous.  Far  down-stream,  nearly 
two  miles  away,  where  the  railroad-bridge  crosses  the  gorge,  it 
shows  like  a  little  emerald  strung  on  a  narrow  band  of  pearl. 
Its  colour  is  not  quite  like  that  of  an  emerald,  although  the 
term  must  be  used  because  no  other  is  more  accurate.     It  is  a 


From  the  Falls  to  Lake  Ontario  43 

purer  colour,  and  cooler,  with  less  of  yellow  in  it — more  pure, 
more  cool,  and  at  the  same  time  more  brilliant  than  any  colour 
that  sea-water  takes  even  in  a  breaking  wave,  or  that  man  has 
produced  in  any  substance  whatsoever.  At  this  place,  we  are 
told,  the  current  must  be  twenty  feet  deep;  and  its  colour  is  so 
intense  and  so  clear  because,  while  the  light  is  reflected  from 
its  curving  surface,  it  also  filters  through  so  great  a  mass  of 
absolutely  limpid  water.  It  always  quivers,  this  bright-green 
stretch,  yet  somehow  it  always  seems  as  solid  as  stone,  smoothly 
polished  for  the  most  part,  but,  when  a  low  sun  strikes  across 
it,  a  little  roughened,  fretted.  That  this  is  water  and  that  the 
thinnest  smoke  above  it  is  water  also,  who  can  believe?  In 
other  places  at  Niagara  we  ask  the  same  question  again. 

From  a  distance  the  American  fall  looks  quite  straight. 
When  we  stand  beside  it  we  see  that  its  line  curves  inward  and 
outward,  throwing  the  falling  sheet  into  bastion-like  sweeps. 
As  we  gaze  down  upon  these,  every  change  in  the  angle  of  vision 
and  in  the  strength  and  direction  of  the  light  gives  a  new  effect. 
The  one  thing  that  we  never  seem  to  see,  below  the  smooth  brink, 
is  water.  Very  often  the  whole  swift  precipice  shows  as  a  myriad 
million  inch-thick  cubes  of  clearest  glass  or  ice  or  solidified 
light,  falling  in  an  envelope  of  starry  spangles.  Again,  it  seems 
all  diamond-like  or  pearl-like,  or  like  a  flood  of  flaked  silver, 
shivered  crystal,  or  faceted  ingots  of  palest  amber.  It  is  never 
to  be  exhausted  in  its  variations.  It  is  never  to  be  described. 
Only,  one  can  always  say,  it  is  protean,  it  is  most  lovely,  and  it 
is  not  water. 

Then,  as  we  look  across  the  precipice,  it  may  be  milky  in 
places,  or  transparent,  or  translucent.  But  where  its  mass 
falls  quickly  it  is  all  soft  and  white — softer  then  anything  else  in 
the  world.  It  does  not  resemble  a  flood  of  fleece  or  of  down, 
although  it  suggests  such  a  flood.  It  is  more  like  a  crumbling 
avalanche,  immense  and  gently  blown,  of  smallest  snowflakes; 
but,  again,  it  is  not  quite  like  this.  Now  we  see  that,  even  apart 
from  its  main  curves,  no  portion  of  the  swiftly  moving  wall  is 
flat.  It  is  all  delicately  fissured  and  furrowed,  by  the  broken 
edges  of  the  rock  over  which  it  falls,  into  the  suggestion  of 
fluted  buttresses,  half-columns,  pilasters.  And  the  whiteness 
of  these  is  not  quite  white.      Nor  is  it  consistently  iridescent 


44  The  Niagara  River 

or  opalescent.  Very  faintly,  elusivcly,  it  is  tinged  with  tremu- 
lous stripes  and  strands  of  pearly  grey,  of  vaguest  straw,  shell- 
pink,  lavender,  and  green — inconceivably  ethereal  blues, 
shy  ghosts  of  earthly  colours,  abashed  and  deflowered,  we  feel, 
by  definite  naming  with  earthly  names.  They  seem  hardly 
to  tinge  the  whiteness;  rather,  to  float  over  it  as  a  misty  bloom. 
We  arc  loath  to  turn  our  eyes  from  them,  fearing  they  may 
never  show  again.  Yet  they  are  as  real  as  the  keen  emerald 
of  the  Horseshoe.1 

One  should  walk  through  the  New  York  State 
Reservation,  which  extends  for  some  distance  above 
the  commencement  of  the  Rapids,  to  get  a  more 
complete  view  of  the  scenery  above  the  Falls,  the 
wooded  shores  of  Goat  Island,  the  swiftly  moving 
waters,  the  broad  river,  the  beginning  of  the  Canadian 
Rapids,  and  the  Canadian  shore  in  the  distance.  On 
up  the  river  at  a  distance  are  to  be  seen  those  forest- 
clad  shores  of  Navy  Island  and  Grand  Island. 

On  the  Canadian  side  of  the  river,  after  crossing  the 
steel  arch  bridge  just  below  the  Falls,  beautiful  Vic- 
toria Park  is  first  reached.  From  this  position  a  new 
and  entirely  different  view  of  the  American  Fall  is 
obtained  from  almost  directly  in  front.  Turning  and 
going  up  the  river  a  fine  view  of  the  Horseshoe  is  ob- 
tained from  a  distance.  Just  opposite  the  American 
Fall  is  Inspiration  Point,  from  which  the  best  view 
of  the  Falls  is  to  be  obtained.  From  here  one  can 
watch  the  little  Maid  of  the  Mist  as  she  makes  her 
trips  through  the  boiling  waters  below. 

On  up  the  river  one  wanders,  past  Goat  Island, 
whose  cliff  is  seen  from  directly  in  front.  Just  before 
reaching  the  edge  of  the  Horseshoe  the  position  of 

1  The  Century  Magazijic,  xxxvi.,  19S-201. 


From  the  Falls  to  Lake  Ontario  45 

old  Table  Rock  is  seen.  Little  is  left  of  this  old  and 
once  famous  point  for  observing  Niagara's  wonders. 
Several  different  falls  of  immense  masses  of  rock,  one 
of  which  has  been  mentioned,  have  reduced  it  to  its 
present  state.  Here  the  Indian  worshipped  the  Great 
Spirit  of  the  Falls,  gazing  across  at  his  supposed  home 
on  Goat  Island ;  and  here  comes  the  white  man  to  look 
upon  the  wonders  of  that  mighty  cataract  with  a  feel- 
ing almost  akin  to  that  of  his  red  brother.  Here  one 
could  stand  with  the  maddening  waters  rushing  be- 
neath, the  Falls  near  at  hand,  its  incessant  roar  assail- 
ing the  ears  while  the  spray  was  wafted  all  round. 
Little  wonder  that  the  red  man  worshipped,  or 
that  the  white  man  looks  on  with  feelings  of  awe, 
admiration,  and  wonder. 

Passing  on  up  the  river  and  around  the  pumping 
station  for  the  neighbouring  village,  one  reaches  the 
point  at  the  water's  edge  from  which  the  "Heart  of 
Niagara  "  can  best  be  seen, where  millions  of  tons  of  water 
are  continually  pouring  over  the  cliff  and  causing  some 
of  the  most  beautiful  effects  produced  by  the  spray 
called  the  "Darting  Lines  of  Spray"  to  be  seen  any- 
where at  the  Falls.  From  this  point  one  sees  up  the 
river  over  a  mile  of  the  Rapids  with  their  madly  hurry- 
ing waters  rushing  on  as  if  to  engulf  everything  below. 

Along  the  water's  edge,  the  journey  should  be  pur- 
sued. A  short  distance  farther  up  stream,  a  crib 
work  has  been  built  as  a  protection  to  the  bank.  Here 
is  to  be  gained  one  of  the  finest  views  of  the  Canadian 
Rapids,  one  feature  of  which  can  not  be  seen  to  so 
great  advantage  from  any  other  point.  The  "Shore- 
less Sea,"  as  this  view  has  been  called,  is  a  grand  and 
inspiring  sight.     Gazing  up  the  stream  the  Rapids  are 


46  The  Niagara  River 

seen  tumbling  on  toward  one,  with  no  land  in  sight. 
The  clouds  form  the  sky-line  and  it  is  as  if  the  very 
chambers  of  heaven  had  been  opened  for  a  second 
deluge.  It  is,  indeed,  a  ''Shoreless  Sea,"  tumbling 
on,  a  grand  and  awful  sight. 

Pursuing  one's  way  on  up  the  river,  Dufferin  Islands 
are  reached.  These  are  formed  by  a  bend  in  the  cur- 
rent. Here  is  a  sylvan  retreat,  full  of  lovers'  walks 
and  beauties  of  nature.  Here  is  the  burning  spring — ■ 
escaping  natural  gas  from  a  rift  in  the  rock.  Not  far 
from  this  point,  on  up  the  river,  was  fought  the  battle 
of  Chippewa.  About  a  mile  above  these  islands,  at 
the  mouth  of  Chippewa  Creek,  stood  Fort  Chippewa, 
built  by  the  British  in  1790  to  protect  this,  their  most 
important  portage. 

To  reach  the  points  of  interest,  just  mentioned,  on 
the  Canadian  side,  as  well  as  those  down  the  river,  it 
is  best  to  make  the  trip  from  one  scenic  position  to 
another  by  electric  car.  Returning  to  the  Horseshoe 
one  will  doubtless  have  called  to  his  mind  that  about 
a  mile  back  to  the  left  occurred  the  famed  battle  of 
Lundy's  Lane  on  July  5,  1814.  At  the  edge  of  the 
cliff  on  the  right  was  the  position  of  the  "Old  Indian 
Ladder,"  by  means  of  which  the  Indians  used  to  de- 
scend to  the  lower  level  for  the  purpose  of  fishing.  This 
ladder  was  only  a  long  cedar  tree,  which  had  been  de- 
prived of  its  limbs  and  had  been  placed  almost  perpen- 
dicularly against  the  cliff.  On  down  the  way  a  short 
distance,  the  road  which  leads  down  the  face  of  the  cliff, 
to  the  Maid  of  the  Mist's  landing,  is  reached.  Just 
beyond  this  point,  at  the  top  of  the  inclined  railway,  is 
to  be  obtained  the  best  view  of  the  steel  arch  bridge. 
Just  below  the  bridge,  opposite,  on  the  American  shore, 


From  the  Falls  to  Lake  Ontario  47 

a  maddened  torrent  comes  pouring  from  the  base  of 
the  cliff  as  if  anxious  to  add  its  fury  to  that  of  the 
waters  round.  It  is  the  outlet  of  the  tunnel  which 
disposes  of  the  tail  water  from  the  electric  power- 
house over  a  mile  above,  mentioned  in  our  chapter  on 
power  development  at  Niagara.  The  manufacturing 
plants  of  the  Hydraulic  Company,  the  first  to  use 
Niagara's  waters  to  any  great  extent  for  power,  are 
situated  just  opposite. 

A  short  distance  on  down  the  stream,  and  after 
descending  a  slight  incline,  the  point  where  Blondin 
stretched  his  rope  across  the  gorge   in  1859  is  reached. 

Next  on  the  journey  the  cantilever  bridge  is  reached. 
This  bridge  was  constructed  in  1882.  Just  below  this 
is  the  steel  arch  bridge,  both  being  railroad  bridges. 
The  second  one  was  first  constructed  as  a  suspension 
bridge  by  John  A.  Roebling,  being  the  first  railroad 
bridge  of  its  kind  in  the  country.  It  has  been  several 
times  replaced,  the  present  structure  having  been 
erected  in  1897.  Just  below  the  railroad  bridges 
several  persons  have  made  the  trip  across  the  gorge 
on  ropes. 

Soon  the  Whirlpool  is  reached,  and  the  madly  rush- 
ing waters  are  seen  as  at  no  other  place  on  the  surface 
of  the  earth.  Rounding  the  rapids,  the  car  runs  over 
a  trestle  work  in  crossing  the  old  pre-glacial  channel  of 
the  river  referred  to  in  our  geologic  chapter.  Here 
one  can  look  down  on  the  waters  almost  directly  be- 
neath him,  with  the  forests  covering  the  sloping  incline 
of  the  ancient  bed  of  the  river  stretching  up  to  the 
level  above.  Just  as  the  car  finishes  the  rounded 
curve  of  the  Whirlpool,  at  the  point  of  the  cliff  at  the 
outlet,  one  catches  the  best  view  of  both  inlet  and  outlet 


48  The  Niagara  River 

at  the  same  time,  flowing  directly  at  right  angles  to 
each  other.  The  car  continues  on  its  course,  now 
near,  now  farther  back  from  the  edge  of  the  gorge. 
One  catches  occasional  glimpses  of  the  bridge  far  below, 
over  which  the  electric  line  passes  back  to  the  Amer- 
ican shore.  For  over  three  miles  the  car  continues 
its  course  along  the  cliff  before  the  next  point  of  special 
interest  presents  itself  in  Brock's  monument. 

From  this  monument  one  of  the  finest  panoramic 
views  of  the  surrounding  regions  can  be  obtained. 
The  monument  stands  on  Queenston  Heights,  with 
the  remains  of  old  Fort  Drummond  just  back  of  it. 

All  about  is  historic  ground.  On  the  surrounding 
plain  and  slopes  was  fought  the  battle  of  Queenston 
Heights.  Every  inch  of  ground  has  some  story  to  tell 
of  that  struggle.  The  car  soon  begins  to  descend  the 
incline  which,  ages  ago,  formed  the  shores  of  Lake 
Ontario.  Below,  at  the  end  of  the  gorge,  the  river 
seems  to  forget  its  tumultuous  rush,  and  spreading 
out  pursues  a  placid  and  well-behaved  course  to  the 
lower  lake. 

About  half-way  down  the  descent,  the  point  where 
General  Brock  fell  is  reached,  which  point  is  marked 
by  a  massive  stone  monument  set  in  place  in  1861  by 
King  Edward  VII.,  then  Prince  of  Wales.  Just  below 
to  the  right  is  seen  an  old,  ruined  stone  house  which 
was  General  Brock's  shelter  after  being  wounded, 
and  in  which  was  printed,  in  1792,  the  first  newspaper 
of  Upper  Canada.  The  bridge  is  soon  reached,  in  the 
crossing  of  which,  a  fine  view  of  the  last  mad  rush  of 
the  waters  is  gained  as  they  issue  from  the  gorge  into 
the  placid  stream  leading  to  the  lake  below.  On  they 
come  with  the  waves  piled  high  in  the  centre,  tearing 
along  in  a  mad  fury,  until  they  seem  to  be  pacified  by 


From  the  Falls  to  Lake  Ontario  49 

a  power  stronger  even  than  their  own;  and  they  glide 
smoothly  along  to  the  end  of  their  course  in  the  lower 
lake. 

On  the  American  heights  stood  old  Fort  Gray, 
connected  with  the  history  of  the  War  of  1812.  On 
the  American  shore  was  the  head  of  navigation,  and 
up  the  cliff  all  the  freight  sent  over  the  old  portage 
was  hoisted  by  hand  and  later  by  machinery.  High 
up  on  the  American  cliffs,  half-way  between  the  Whirl- 
pool and  Lewiston,  is  the  famous  "Devil's  Hole,"  an 
interesting  cave  known  among  the  Indians,  we  are 
told,  as  the  "Cave  of  the  Evil  Spirit."  Here,  it  has 
been  stated,  geologists  find  some  of  the  clearest  evi- 
dences of  the  former  existence  of  the  presence  of  the 
Falls  in  that  far  day  when  the  migration  had  extended 
thus  far  up  the  river  from  the  escarpment  at  Lewiston. 

Much  has  been  said  about  the  rapids  of  the  river 
below  the  Falls — the  lesser  Rapids  of  Niagara.  What 
of  this  seething,  spouting,  tumbling  mass  that  races 
along  below  these  towering  cliffs,  maddening,  ungov- 
ernable, almost  horrifying  to  gaze  upon?  It  is  very 
singular  how  little  is  said  about  this  torrent.  They 
illustrate  very  significantly  the  fact  that  mere  power 
has  little  of  charm  for  the  mind  of  man;  it  interests, 
but  often  it  does  not  please  or  delight.  In  our  chapter 
on  the  foolhardy  persons  to  whom  these  bounding 
billows  have  been  a  challenge,  and  who  have  attempted 
to  navigate  or  pass  through  them,  are  descriptions  of 
their  savage  fury  and  wonderful  eccentricities.  The 
most  interesting  fact  respecting  these  great  rapids  is 
the  unbelievable  depth  of  the  channel  through  which 
they  race,  since  it  sometimes  approximates,  according 
to  the  best  sources  of  information,  the  height  of  the 


50  The  Niagara  River 

towering  cliffs  that  compose  the  canyon.  By  gov- 
ernment survey  we  know  that  the  depth  of  the  river 
between  the  Falls  and  the  cantilever  bridge  is  two 
hundred  feet.  The  Whirlpool  is  estimated  as  four 
hundred  feet  deep,  and  the  rapids  above  the  Whirlpool 
as  forty  feet  deep;  the  rapids  below  the  Whirlpool  are 
thought  to  be  about  sixty. 

The  romantic  situation  of  the  two  ancient  towns, 
Lewiston  and  Queenston,  at  the  foot  of  the  two  escarp- 
ments, on  opposite  sides  of  the  river,  is  only  equalled 
by  the  absorbing  story  of  their  part  in  history  when 
they  were  thriving,  bustling  frontier  outposts.  The 
beauty  of  the  locations  of  these  interesting  towns 
contains  in  itself  sufficient  promise  of  growth  and  pros- 
perity equal  to,  or  exceeding,  that  of  beautiful  Youngs- 
town,  near  Fort  Niagara,  or  Niagara-on-the-Lake  on 
the  Canadian  shore.  This  lower  stretch  of  river  teems 
with  historic  interest  of  the  French  era  and  especially 
of  the  days  when  the  second  war  with  Great  Britain 
was  progressing;  in  our  chapters  relating  to  those  days 
will  be  found  references  to  these  points  of  present-day 
interest  in  their  relation  to  the  great  questions  that 
were  being  settled  by  sword  and  musket,  by  friend  and 
foe,  who  met  beside  the  historic  river  that  empties 
into  Lake  Ontario  between  old  Fort  George  and  old 
Fort  Niagara. 

For  ease  of  access,  romantic  situation,  historic 
interest,  and  many  of  the  advantages  usually  desired 
during  a  hot  vacation  recess,  these  towns  along  the 
lower  Niagara  offer  a  varied  number  of  important  ad- 
vantages; if  by  some  magic  touch  a  dam  could  be 
raised  between  Fort  Mississagua  and  the  American 
shore,  rendering  that  marvellously  beautiful  stretch  of 


*o 
o 
a, 


H 


From  the  Falls  to  Lake  Ontario  51 

river — unmatched  in  some  ways  by  any  American 
stream — slack  water,  one  of  the  most  lovely  boating 
lakes  on  the  Continent  could  be  created,  whereon  inter- 
national regattas  in  both  winter  and  summer  could  be 
held  of  unusual  interest.  Is  it  supposable  that  this 
could  be  effected  without  great  detriment  to  either 
the  yachting  fraternity,  whose  sails,  from  the  verandah 
of  the  Queen's  Royal,  are  always  a  delight,  or  the 
steamboat  interests,  which  could  land  as  well  at  Fort 
Niagara,  perhaps,  as  at  Lewiston,  or  at  Niagara-on-the- 
Lake,  which  could  be  connected  with  the  Gorge 
Route.  The  river's  current  is  all  now  that  keeps  the 
lower  Niagara  from  being  as  popular  a  resort  of  its  kind 
as  can  be  suggested.  All  the  elements  of  popularity  are 
in  fair  measure  present  here,  and  immensely  enjoyed 
yearly  by  increasing  multitudes. 

A  little  beyond  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara,  just  over 
those  blue  waves,  rise  the  spires  of  the  queen  city  of 
Canada,  Toronto.  To  all  practical  purposes  this  beau- 
tiful city  stands  at  one  end  of  Niagara  River,  as  Buffalo 
stands  at  the  other.  Historically  and  commercially 
this  is  altogether  true,  and  we  elsewhere  weave  its 
history  into  our  record. 


Chapter  III 
The  Birth  of  Niagara 


& 


GEOLOGIC  time  presents  to  the  scientist  one 
of  the  most  difficult  problems  with  which 
he  has  to  deal.  When  the  different  divisions 
into  which  he  would  divide  the  ages  are  num- 
bered by  thousands  and  even  millions  of  years,  the 
human  mind  is  appalled  at  the  prospect;  and  when 
the  calculations  of  different  geologists  vary  by  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  years,  the  lay  mind  can  not  help  grow- 
ing somewhat  credulous,  and  at  times  be  tempted  to  dis- 
card the  whole  mass  of  scientific  data  relating  to  the 
subject. 

Niagara  River  forms  one  of  the  best,  if  not  the  best, 
means  of  studying  the  lapse  of  time  since  the  Ice  Age. 
Finding,  as  students  do  here,  the  best  material  in  ex- 
istence for  this  stud)7,  leads  to  exhaustive  scientific 
analysis  of  every  clue  presented  by  the  Cataract  and 
the  deep  Gorge  it  has  cut  for  itself  through  the  solid 
lime  rock  and  Niagara  shale  forming  its  bed. 

We  are  prone  to  look  upon  the  great  wonders  of  the 
world  as  destined  to  last  as  long  as  the  earth  itself. 
We  do  not  realise  that  the  mountains,  miles  in  height, 
are  slowly^ crumbling  before  our  eyes,  or  realise  that 
the  rivers  are  carrying  them  slowly  toward  the 
sea,  filling  the  lakes  and  lower  portions  of  land  along 
their  courses.     These  slow  but  ceaseless  forces  are  con- 

52 


The  Birth  of  Niagara  53 

tinually  at  work,  reducing  the  surface  of  the  earth  to 
that  of  a  level  plain  and  at  the  same  time  depriving 
the  land  of  its  lakes  by  filling  their  depressions  with 
silt.  The  winds  and  the  waters,  together  with  the 
wearing  power  effected  by  frost,  are  the  forces  strug- 
gling at  this  great  levelling  task.  The  work  is  partly 
done ;  in  many  of  the  older  regions  the  lakes  and  eleva- 
tions have  almost  entirely  disappeared.  Other  parts 
of  the  land  are  comparatively  new;  and  it  is  here  that 
one  sees  the  rough  mountain  or  the  deep  canyon  of  the 
river;  sufficient  time  not  having  elapsed  to  wear  away 
the  elevation  in  the  one  case  nor  the  steep  banks  in  the 
other. 

One  needs  but  to  look  at  a  relief  map  of  the  Niagara 
district  to  note  the  Falls  and  the  outline  of  the  Gorge 
to  see  at  once  that  this  is  a  comparatively  new  region 
or,  at  least,  that  the  formative  forces  which  gave  it 
its  present  characteristics  were  at  the  highest  stage  of 
their  career  when  the  lands  to  the  south  had  almost 
reached  their  present  stage.  These  facts  can  be  ob- 
served by  any  person  visiting  the  Niagara  district;  it 
does  not  require  a  geologist  to  trace  roughly  their 
course. 

Questions  naturally  arise  in  calculating  the  age 
of  Niagara.  If,  as  all  the  facts  seem  to  indicate, 
this  river  has  had  a  very  recent  beginning,  what  then 
did  it  do  before  it  occupied  its  present  course?  What 
will  be  its  final  destiny?  What  will  happen  when  it 
has  worn  its  Gorge  back  to  Lake  Erie?  Or  will  the 
general  level  of  the  land  be  so  changed  that  the  Falls 
will  never  recede  to  the  lake?  The  last  and  most 
important  of  all  is:  How  long  has  it  taken  the  Falls  to 
grind  out  the  Gorge  thus  far?     This  latter  question, 


54  The  Niagara  River 

viewed  in  its  relation  to  the  first  one,  forms  the  basis  of 
the  present  chapter.  The  great  work  of  the  Cataract 
is  going  on  before  our  very  eyes.  The  history  of  this 
great  river  is  working  itself  out  at  the  height  of  its 
glory,  in  an  age  when  all  can  behold.  It  is  the  more 
interesting  since  it  is  the  only  example  of  the  kind 
known.  One  can  easily  look  back  to  the  time  when 
the  water  flowed  along  the  top  of  the  plateau  to  Lewis- 
ton  and  the  Falls  were  situated  at  that  point.  This 
date,  of  course,  witnessed  the  birth  of  Niagara,  for, 
wherever  the  waters  flowed  before,  they  could  not  have 
taken  this  course  before  the  Falls  began  their  work. 
The  day  that  witnessed  the  beginning  of  the  one  wit- 
nessed also  the  birth  of  the  other.  Likewise  one  can 
not  help  looking  forward  to  the  day  when  Niagara 
shall  have  accomplished  its  work,  when  its  waters 
shall  have  completely  ground  the  plateau  in  two,  and 
so  drained  Lake  Erie  to  its  bottom. 

What  did  the  waters  of  the  lakes  do  before  the 
Niagara  began  its  history?  How  long  has  it  been  at 
its  present  work?  These  are  the  questions  interesting 
to  every  one ;  and  by  far  more  interesting  to  one  who 
is  making  a  study  of  the  formative  forces  now  contrib- 
uting, and  which  have  contributed  to  bring  about  the 
present  characteristics  of  surface  structure.  A  few 
important  facts  exist,  and  these  now  are  beyond  doubt, 
upon  which  rest  the  inferences  concerning  the  age 
of  the  Falls.  In  ancient  times  the  waters  of  Lake 
Erie  did  not  find  an  outlet  through  Niagara  River,  so 
there  was  no  channel  ready  made  for  the  river  when  it 
began  its  present  course.  Even  after  the  beginning  of 
the  river  the  upper  lakes,  Huron,  Michigan,  and  Supe- 
rior, did  not  discharge  their  waters  through  Niagara 


The  Birth  of  Niagara  55 

Until  comparatively  recent  times  only  the  waters  from 
Lake  Erie  discharged  through  this  channel  and  there- 
fore for  many  ages  only  a  small  fraction  of  the  present 
volume  could  possibly  have  been  at  work  on  the  Falls. 

The  striking  features  of  the  Gorge  are  modern,  and 
have  been  very  little  affected  by  those  agencies  which 
are  continually  moulding  the  contours  of  land  surfaces. 
The  inclination  of  the  river's  bed  has  varied  greatly 
with  the  ages,  due  to  gradual  uplifting  or  depressing  of 
the  earth's  crust;  consequently  the  current  has  varied 
greatly  in  velocity  with  these  changes.  A  calculation 
of  the  work  done  by  the  river  during  each  epoch  of  its 
history  is  indeed  fraught  with  many  difficulties.  Much 
investigation,  however,  has  been  made  along  this  line 
and  with  a  rather  satisfactory  degree  of  success. 

Niagara  appears  to  have  had  a  life  peculiar  to  itself ; 
but  what  is  unique  in  its  history,  is  the  presentation  of 
characteristics  which  in  the  case  of  other  rivers  have 
long  since  passed  away.  Rivers,  and  especially  very 
large  ones,  appeal  to  us  as  "unchangeable  as  the  hills 
themselves";  but  the  truth  is,  that  the  very  hills  and 
mountains  are  changing  as  a  result  of  the  forces  exerted 
by  water.  Niagara,  as  viewed  by  the  geologist,  is 
unique,  not  on  account  of  its  having  a  different  history 
than  any  other  river,  but  for  the  reason  that  it  had  a 
more  recent  beginning.  The  calculation  of  the  life  of 
such  a  stream  is  interesting  in  itself,  besides  the  other 
great  questions  settled  by  the  solution  of  such  a  prob- 
lem as  the  probable  number  of  years  that  the  river 
shall  exist  in  its  present  form,  the  centuries  which  have 
elapsed  since  the  ice  retreated  from  this  region,  and  the 
ascertaining  of  certain  facts  concerning  the  antiquity 
of  man.     In  order  to  make  a  thorough  study  of  these 


56  The  Niagara  River 

topics,  one  must  take  a  view  of  the  relief  features 
of  the  Niagara  region,  and  make  a  careful  review  of 
what  conditions  existed  at  the  time  that  this  district 
was  covered  by  the  great  ice  sheet,  together  with  the 
changes  effected  during  the  retreat  of  the  Great  Glacier 
to  the  north. 

Niagara  River  has  its  origin  in  the  eastern  end  of 
Lake  Erie,  about  three  hundred  feet  higher  than  the 
surface  of  Lake  Ontario.  Passing  from  Erie  to  the 
last-mentioned  lake  the  descent  is  not  gradual,  but  one 
finds  a  gently  rolling  plain  with  almost  no  slope  for 
nineteen  miles  until  almost  at  the  very  shore  of  Lake 
Ontario,  where  almost  unexpectedly  one  comes  upon 
a  high  precipice  from  which  a  magnificent  view  of  the 
lower  lake  may  be  gained,  only  a  narrow  strip  of  beach 
intervening.  This  cliff  is  called  by  geologists  the 
Niagara  escarpment. 

When  the  river  leaves  Lake  Erie  its  waters  are  in- 
terfered with  by  a  low  ledge  of  rock  running  across  its 
channel.  After  passing  this  its  waters  meet  no  more 
troublesome  obstructions  until  coming  to  the  head  of 
Goat  Island.  The  river  can  scarcely  be  said  to  have 
a  valley.  One  is  reminded  more  of  an  arm  of  the  lake 
extending  out  over  this  region.  The  country  from 
Lake  Erie  to  near  the  head  of  the  Rapids  above  the  Falls 
rests  on  a  stratum  of  soft  rock ;  from  the  Falls  northward 
the  underlying  stratum  is  formed  by  a  ledge  of  hard  lime- 
stone, and  beneath  this  a  shale  and  two  thin  strata  of 
sandstone.  By  the  descent  of  the  Rapids  and  the  Falls, 
the  waters  are  dropped  two  hundred  feet,  and  thence 
through  the  Gorge  they  rush  along  at  an  appalling 
rate  over  the  descent,  through  the  Whirlpool  and  on 
to    Oueenston    for  a   distance  of  seven  miles.     From 


The  Birth  of  Niagara  57 

this  city  to  the  lake  there  is  little  fall  and  so  only  a 
moderate  current. 

The  deep,  narrow  gorge  extending  from  the  Falls 
to  Lewiston  is  the  especial  subject  of  study  to  the 
geologist.  This  canyon  is  scarcely  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
wide,  varying  little  in  the  distance  from  cliff  to  cliff 
throughout  most  of  its  course.  This  chasm  opens  up 
before  the  student  with  almost  appalling  suddenness, 
while  travelling  over  an  otherwise  regular  plain.  Its 
walls  are  so  precipitous  that  few  opportunities  are 
offered  for  scaling  them ;  and  their  height  from  the  bot- 
tom of  the  river  varies  from  two  hundred  to  five  hun- 
dred feet.  An  examination  of  both  sides  of  the  Gorge 
shows  the  same  order  in  the  layers  of  rock  and  shale 
on  comparatively  the  same  level,  with  the  same  thick- 
ness of  each  corresponding  stratum.  If  a  superstitious 
person  had  come  unexpectedly  upon  this  gigantic 
fissure  ages  ago,  he  might  easily  have  imagined  it  to 
have  been  the  work  of  some  mighty  mythological  hero ; 
but  the  modern  scientist  has  reached  a  much  better,  as 
well  as  a  much  more  satisfactory  conclusion,  namely, 
that  this  immense  cleft  has  been  sawed  by  the  force  of 
the  water,  from  a  structure  whose  features  were  con- 
tinuous, as  is  manifest  by  the  similarity  of  the  exposed 
strata  on  the  two  sides  of  the  stream.  To  be  convinced 
of  the  fact  that  the  Falls  are  gradually  receding,  it  is 
only  necessary  to  observe  them  closely  for  a  few  years. 
The  breaking  away  of  an  immense  mass  of  rock  previ- 
ously described  is  one  of  the  recent  events  in  the  history 
of  the  river.  This  establishes  the  fact  that  the  Gorge 
is  growing  longer  from  its  northern  end  through  the 
agency  of  the  waterfall. 

These    facts    show    us    the    river   working    at    a 


58  The  Niagara  River 

monstrous  task.  Its  work  is  only  partly  done.  Two 
questions  come  to  us  almost  immediately:  When  this 
work  is  done  what  will  it  do?  and,  What  did  it  do 
before  its  present  work  begun?  The  waters  of  Lake 
Erie  could  never  have  flowed  to  Lake  Ontario  with- 
out wearing  away  at  the  Gorge  we  now  see.  The 
birth  of  the  river  and  the  cutting  of  the  canyon  were 
simultaneous.     Of  this  much  we  are  assured. 

A  superficial  study  of  a  map  of  North  America  will 
show  at  once  a  great  difference  in  the  northern  and  the 
southern  sections.  From  the  region  of  the  Great  Lakes 
northward  the  district  is  one  continuation  of  lakes, 
ponds,  swamps,  and  rivers  with  many  rapids.  South 
of  the  Ohio  there  are  few  lakes,  and  the  rivers  flow  on 
with  almost  unbroken  courses.  Here  is  a  region  much 
older  than  that  to  the  north ;  and  its  waters  have  had 
ages  more  in  which  to  mould  down  elevations  and  fill 
up  depressions.  The  cause  of  this  difference  in  the 
characteristics  of  the  streams  of  the  North  and  those 
of  the  South  is  to  be  explained  by  the  great  Ice  Age. 
As  far  as  we  now  know  there  may  have  been  little  dif- 
ference in  relief  forms  between  the  two  sections  be- 
fore the  encroachment  of  the  ice.  During  the  glacial 
epoch  the  whole  northern  part  of  the  continent  was 
covered  with  a  thick  ice  sheet,  which  was  continually 
renewed  at  the  north,  and  as  continually  drifted  slowly 
in  a  general  southerly  direction.  As  this  heavy  ice 
cap  passed  over  the  surface,  it  acted  somewhat  like  a 
river  in  its  erosive  power,  only  working  much  greater 
changes.  It  not  only  picked  up  loose  particles,  but 
also  scoured  and  wore  away  solid  rocks  along  its  bed. 
Thus  the  whole  configuration  of  the  country  was 
changed. 


The  Birth  of  Niagara  59 

At  the  southern  terminal  of  the  glacier,  where  it 
ended  in  the  ocean,  the  ice  broke  away  in  large  bergs, 
as  in  the  northern  seas  to-day ;  but  where  the  advancing 
ice  met  the  warmer  climate  on  land,  it  was  melted  and 
thus  deposited  at  its  terminal  all  the  material  it  carried. 
The  eroding  power  of  this  ice  sheet,  together  with 
the  deposit  of  its  materials  on  melting,  brought  about 
a  great  change  in  the  configuration  of  the  country. 
Many  old  valleys  were  obliterated,  while  a  number  of 
new  ones  were  carved.  As  the  ice  retreated  northward 
with  the  change  of  climate,  new  lakes  and  rivers  were 
formed.  Many  times  the  streams  escaping  from  the 
lower  level  of  lakes  were  forced  to  find  an  entirely  new 
course,  and  so  to  carve  a  new  channel  of  their  own. 
The  region  of  the  Great  Lakes  and  the  Niagara  River 
is  no  exception  to  this  rule;  and  it  is  with  the  ending 
of  the  Ice  Age  that  the  history  of  the  river  begins. 

A  glance  at  a  map  shows  a  low  range  of  hills  or 
rather  a  gentle  swell  in  the  land  surface  forming  the 
watershed  between  the  lakes  and  the  streams  flowing 
to  the  south.  At  the  time  of  the  farthest  southerly 
extension  of  the  glacier  it  reached  beyond  this  elevation ; 
and  its  waters  were  discharged  into  the  rivers  flowing 
to  the  south.  When  the  southern  terminal  had  re- 
treated to  the  north  of  this  divide,  but  still  blocked  all 
outlet  to  the  north  or  east,  there  was  doubtless  a  num- 
ber of  lakes  here  discharging  their  waters  across  the 
present  low  watershed  to  the  south.  Some  of  these 
ancient  valleys  can  still  be  traced  for  long  distances  of 
their  course.  These  lakes  passed  through  their  varying 
history  as  those  of  to-day,  their  surface  troubled  by 
wind  and  storm  and  their  waves  leaving  indelible 
carvings  upon  their  shores. 


60  The  Niagara  River 

One  of  these  lakes  occupied  what  is  now  the  western 
end  of  Lake  Erie,  shortly  after  the  ice  front  had  passed 
to  the  north  of  the  watershed  mentioned.  There  are 
still  very  definite  markings  which  show  that  its  waters 
were  discharged  across  the  divide  by  a  channel  into 
the  present  Wabash  River  and  thence  into  the  Ohio. 
This  channel  can  be  traced  throughout  most  of  its 
course  very  easily.  There  are  at  least  four  distinct 
shore  lines  preserved  to  us,  which  show  four  successive 
levels  of  the  lake  as  it  reached  lower  outlets  before  the 
Niagara  River  was  born.  All  of  these  old  shore  lines 
can  be  traced  throughout  most  of  their  courses. 

As  the  ice  continued  to  retreat,  next  we  notice  the 
greatest  change  in  elevation  of  the  surface  of  the  water. 
The  ice  front  finally  passed  to  the  north  of  the  present 
Mohawk  River,  thus  allowing  the  waters  to  escape  by 
that  outlet,  and,  as  a  consequence,  lowering  the  surface 
of  the  lakes  by  over  five  hundred  feet.  This  drained 
a  great  extent  of  land  and  dropped  the  surface  of 
Ontario  far  below  the  present  level  of  the  Niagara 
escarpment.  Then  for  the  first  time  the  Niagara 
began  to  flow,  and  its  Falls  began  their  work.  Im- 
mediately upon  the  formation  of  this  new,  lower  lake 
it  began  the  work  of  leaving  its  history  carved  upon 
the  rocks,  sands,  and  gravels  which  formed  its  shores. 
Its  first  ancient  beach  is  more  easily  traced  for  almost 
its  entire  course  than  any  of  the  other  old  levels.  It 
does  not  even  take  the  trained  eye  of  the  scientist 
to  see  its  unmistakable  history  written  in  the  sands. 
The  earliest  western  travellers  describe  the  Ridge  Road 
running  along  this  old,  deserted  beach  as  showing 
unmistakable  signs  of  having  been  an  ancient  shore 
line  of  the  lake. 


>> 


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The  Birth  of  Niagara  61 

In  following  the  course  of  this  old  shore  line  a  grad- 
ual slope  is  noticed,  and  if  this  was  a  shore  line,  we 
must  account  for  this  variation  in  elevation,  since  the 
surface  of  the  water  is  always  level.  The  explanation 
is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  portions  of  the  earth's 
surface  are  gradually  rising  while  others  are  as  gradually 
sinking.  On  comparing  the  old  coast  line  with  the 
level  of  the  present  one,  we  find  that  the  lake  has 
gradually  inclined  to  the  south  and  the  west.  This 
change  in  elevation  had  its  share  in  determining  the 
configuration  of  the  lake  as  well  as  the  relief  features 
of  the  surrounding  region.  The  point  of  discharge  was 
at  Rome,  New  York,  as  long  as  the  barrier  blocked  the 
regions  north  of  the  Adirondack  Mountains.  As  soon 
as  the  encroaching  warmth  of  the  south  had  removed 
this  barrier  to  the  level  of  the  Rome  outlet,  the  water 
began  flowing  by  the  St.  Lawrence  course.  True  the 
first  outlet  was  not  the  same  as  the  present  one ;  but  it 
must  have  been  many  times  shifted  in  the  course  of 
the  retreat  of  the  ice.  As  a  result  of  this  alternate 
shifting,  together  with  the  changing  of  the  level  of  the 
lake,  there  are  to  be  found  the  markings  of  numerous 
shore  lines,  some  of  which  pass  under  the  present  level 
of  the  waters. 

These  different  variations  must  of  necessity  have 
had  a  great  effect  on  the  work  of  Niagara  River.  When 
the  Niagara  began  to  flow,  instead  of  its  terminal  being 
nearly  seven  miles  from  the  escarpment,  it  was  only 
between  one  and  two  miles  away,  and  the  surface  of 
the  lake  was  about  seventy-five  feet  higher  than  now. 
While  the  outlet  remained  at  Rome,  the  eastern  end 
of  the  lake  was  continually  rising,  which  caused  the 
waters  at  the  western  end  to  rise  over  one  hundred  feet. 


62  The  Niagara  River 

This  placed  the  shore  of  Ontario  almost  at  the  foot  of 
the  beautiful  cliff  at  Queenston  and  Lewiston.  After 
having  occupied  this  position  for  a  long  period,  the 
surface  of  the  waters  again  fell  over  two  hundred  feet, 
carving  an  old  shore  line  which  is  now  submerged. 
After  this,  various  changes  of  level  in  the  land  and  shirt- 
ings of  the  ice  barrier  caused  numerous  old  shore  lines 
to  be  faintly  carved.  These  changes  continued  until 
the  present  outlet  was  established  and  the  waters  began 
to  flow  along  the  present  course  of  the  St.  Lawrence. 

One  might  think  that  with  these  changes  all  the 
variable  factors  of  our  problem  have  been  discussed; 
but  these  same  factors  also  had  their  effect  upon  the 
upper  lakes.  In  a  study  of  the  old  markings  of  all  the 
lakes  of  this  region,  it  seems  that  the  northern  shores 
were  continually  rising;  this,  of  course,  points  to  an 
occupation  of  a  more  northerly  position  by  the  lakes 
than  at  present,  and  also  a  laying  bare  of  northern 
parts,  and  shifting  of  waters  south,  or  possibly  both 
of  these  changes  at  once. 

In  the  most  ancient  system  of  which  we  can  obtain 
an  approximately  definite  knowledge,  Lake  Huron  was 
not  more  than  half  its  present  size,  while  Georgian 
Bay  formed  the  main  body,  connecting  with  Huron 
by  a  narrow  strait.  Michigan  and  Superior  occupied 
about  their  present  limits,  but  were  connected  with 
Huron  by  rivers  rather  than  short  straits;  Erie  occu- 
pied only  a  fraction  of  its  present  position,  having  no 
connection  with  Huron.  The  waters  of  the  upper 
lakes  were  doubtless  discharged  from  the  eastern  end 
of  Georgian  Bay,  which  then  included  Lake  Nipissing, 
by  way  of  the  Ottawa  River,  into  the  St.  Lawrence. 
Thus  the  Niagara  was  deprived  of  about  seven-eighths 


The  Birth  of  Niagara  63 

of  its  present  drainage  area,  and  consequently  was 
totally  unlike  its  present  self.  There  is  some  indi- 
cation that  there  may  have  been  an  outlet  from  Geor- 
gian Bay  by  a  more  southerly  route,  namely,  the  Trent 
River.  If  this  were  so,  the  northern  route  must  have 
been  blocked  by  the  ice,  since  the  Trent  Pass  is  much 
higher  than  the  one  leading  from  Lake  Nipissing,  by 
way  of  the  Ottawa.  These  are  some  of  the  possibilities 
which  must  be  taken  into  consideration  before  any 
sure  calculation  can  be  made  as  to  the  age  of  the  Falls, 
for  there  must  have  been  an  epoch  in  the  history  of 
the  river,  were  it  short  or  long,  during  which  it  carried 
only  a  very  small  fraction  of  the  waters  which  it  bears 
at  present. 

Let  us  turn  again  to  the  gorge  of  the  river  itself. 
We  have  noted  the  similarity  of  structure  of  its  two 
sides.  This  similarity  is  continuous  throughout  ex- 
cept at  about  half-way  from  Queenston  to  the  Falls, 
where  the  river  makes  a  turn  in  its  course  of  almost 
ninety  degrees.  On  the  outside  of  this  angle  is  the 
only  place  in  the  whole  course  where  the  material  of 
the  cliff  changes.  Here  there  is  a  break  in  the  solid 
rock  of  the  bank,  which  is  filled  with  loose  rock  and 
gravel.  This  rift,  to  whatever  it  may  be  due,  is  of 
pre-glacial  origin,  for  it  is  filled  with  the  same  material, 
the  glacial  drift,  which  covers  the  whole  region.  The 
cliff  along  Lake  Ontario  also  presents  very  few  breaks ; 
but  a  few  miles  to  the  west  of  Queenston  at  St.  Davids 
a  broad  gap  is  found  in  the  otherwise  unbroken  wall. 
This  gap  is  also  filled  with  glacial  drift.  On  its  first 
discovery  it  was  supposed  to  be  a  buried  valley,  and 
no  connection  with  the  Whirlpool  was  attributed  to  it. 
Later  it  was  supposed  that  the  break  in  the  side  of  the 


64  The  Niagara  River 


Gorge,  and  the  one  at  St.  Davids,  were  parts  of  one 
and  the  same  course  of  some  pre-glacial  stream.  This 
supposition  has  been  proven  by  the  course  having  been 
traced  through  most  of  its  distance  by  the  wells  sunk 
in  the  region.  Later  this  interpretation  of  the  facts 
found  was  destined  to  furnish  further  explanations. 
The  question  at  once  arose:  How  far  and  where  did 
the  upper  course  of  this  ancient  valley  extend?  If 
it  had  cut  across  the  course  of  the  modern  river,  there 
would  have  been  a  break  in  the  continuity  of  the  cliff 
somewhere  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Gorge;  but  this 
can  nowhere  be  found  to  be  the  case.  The  upper 
course  of  this  ancient  channel,  therefore,  must  have 
coincided  with  that  of  the  present  channel.  When, 
then,  the  Falls  had  receded  to  the  side  of  the 
present  Whirlpool,  it  reached  a  point  where  the  greater 
part  of  its  work  had  been  performed.  From  here  to 
whatever  distance  the  upper  course  of  the  ancient 
river  extended,  the  only  work  to  do  was  to  remove  the 
loose  gravel  and  boulders  with  which  the  glacier  had 
filled  its  channel.  This,  of  course,  was  effected  much 
more  rapidly  than  the  wearing  away  of  the  hard  lime- 
stone bed.  Just  what  was  the  depth,  and  how  far 
this  old  deserted  valley  extended,  it  is  almost  impossi- 
ble to  estimate.  These  changes  are  some  of  the  most 
potent  with  which  one  must  reckon  in  any  calculation 
of  the  time  since  the  beginning  of  Niagara's  history. 
However,  some  work  has  been  done  in  this  line ;  and  a 
broad  field  is  still  open  for  future  investigation. 

At  a  very  early  date  (1790),  and  when  it  was  sup- 
posed by  many  to  be  almost  sacrilegious  to  discuss 
the  antiquity  of  the  earth,  Andrew  Ellicott  made  an 
estimate  of  the  age  of  the  Falls  by  dividing  the  length 


Ice  Mountain  on  Prospect  Point. 


The  Birth  of  Niagara  65 


N=> 


of  the  Gorge  by  the  supposed  rate  of  recession.  This 
gave  as  a  result  55,000  years  as  the  age  of  Niagara 
River.  The  next  estimates  which  commanded  atten- 
tion were  those  of  Bake  well  and  Sir  Charles  Lyell. 
Each  of  these  men  made  separate  estimates,  but  were 
compelled  to  take  as  the  basis  of  their  calculation  the 
recession  as  given  by  residents  of  the  district.  Bake- 
well's  calculations  preceded  Lyell's  by  several  years, 
and  resulted  in  ascribing  to  the  Falls  an  age  of  12,000 
years.  Lyell  found  the  age  to  be  about  36,000  years. 
The  popularity  of  the  latter  caused  his  estimate  to 
be  accepted  for  a  long  period ;  many  persons  undoubt- 
edly placing  more  faith  in  his  results  than  he  himself 
did.  This  method  of  dividing  the  distance  by  the  rate 
of  recession  would  be  correct  if  there  were  no  variables 
entering  into  the  problem,  and  if  the  rate  of  recession 
were  known ;  but  these  first  calculations  involved  errors 
in  the  rate  of  movement  of  the  Falls  besides  making 
no  allowance  for  the  variations  which  have  been 
mentioned  above. 

In  order  to  obtain  a  sure  means  for  measuring  the  re- 
cession of  the  Falls,  Professor  James  Hall  made  a  survey 
of  the  Horseshoe  Falls  in  1842,  under  the  authority  of 
the  New  York  Geological  Survey.  This  survey  plotted 
the  position  of  the  crest  of  the  Falls,  and  established 
monuments  at  the  points  at  which  the  angles  were 
taken ;  thus  leaving  lasting  marks  of  reference  to  which 
any  future  survey  might  be  referred.  In  1886,  Pro- 
fessor Woodward  of  the  United  States  Geological 
Survey,  by  reference  to  the  markings  left  by  Hall, 
found  the  rate  of  recession  for  the  period  to  be  about 
five  feet  per  annum.  It  would,  however,  be  necessary 
to  extend  these  observations  over  a  long  period  of  time, 


66  The  Niagara  River 

since  certain  periods  are  marked  by  large  falls  of  rock. 
Sometimes  the  centre  of  the  Falls  recedes  very  rapidly, 
while  at  other  times  the  centre  is  almost  stationary 
and  the  sides  show  the  greater  action.  One  of  the 
most  recent  calculations  of  the  age  of  the  Falls  was 
made  by  J.  W.  Spencer.  Having  made  a  thorough 
study  of  the  history  of  the  river  revealed  in  its  markings, 
and  also  of  the  Lakes,  making  allowance  for  all  the 
variable  factors,  he  calculated  the  duration  of  each 
epoch  separately;  and  found  the  age  of  the  river  to  be 
about  32,000  years.  This  result  is  about  the  same  as 
that  obtained  from  those  based  upon  the  relative  ele- 
vations of  different  parts  of  the  old  deserted  shore 
lines;  and  another  based  upon  the  rate  of  the  rising 
of  the  land  in  the  Niagara  district. 

The  many  variable  factors  entering  into  the  calcula- 
tions so  far  discussed,  have  led  to  an  earnest  search  for 
some  means  of  determining  the  age  of  the  river,  which 
does  not  involve  so  many  indeterminate  and  unknown 
quantities.  This  means  of  calculation,  and  one  which 
seems  to  be  much  more  free  from  unknown  factors, 
seems  to  have  been  hit  upon  by  Professor  George  Fred- 
erick Wright,  whose  calculations  are  based  upon  the 
rate  of  enlargement  of  the  mouth  of  the  river  at  the 
Niagara  escarpment,  where  the  Falls  first  began  their 
existence.  The  cliffs  at  the  mouth  of  the  Gorge,  as  is 
the  case  with  the  newer  portions  of  the  river  and  in- 
deed is  characteristic  of  all  canyons  when  first  formed, 
were  undoubtedly  almost  perpendicular  when  they 
were  first  cut  by  the  rushing  waters  of  the  Niagara 
River.  The  mouth  of  the  Gorge  at  Lewiston  is  of 
course  the  oldest  part  of  the  river;  and  if  it  were  possi- 
ble to  measure  the  age  of  this  part,  this  would  surely 


Cave  of  the  Winds  in  Winter. 


The  Birth  of  Niagara  67 


give  the  date  of  the  birth  of  Niagara.  Immediately 
upon  the  formation  of  the  Falls  at  Lewiston,  the  waters 
began  the  cutting  of  the  Gorge;  and  immediately  upon 
the  formation  of  a  gorge  there  was  set  to  work  upon 
its  walls  the  disintegrating  agencies  of  the  atmosphere, 
free  from  indeterminate  variables,  tending  to  pull 
down  the  cliffs  upon  each  side  of  the  stream  which 
jealously  walled  it  in. 

This  work  has  gone  on  year  after  year  and  century 
after  century,  without  being  affected  by  either  the 
volume  of  the  river's  waters  or  the  shifting  in  the  ele- 
vation of  the  land.  The  work  of  the  atmospheric 
agencies  in  enlarging  the  mouth  of  the  Gorge  has  had 
the  effect  of  changing  its  shape  from  that  of  a  rectangle, 
whose  perpendicular  sides  were  340  feet,  to  a  figure 
with  a  level  base  formed  by  the  river,  whose  sides  slope 
off  at  the  same  angle  on  each  side.  Now  if  it  were  pos- 
sible to  measure  the  rate  at  which  this  enlargement  is 
taking  place,  the  problem  of  determining  the  age  of 
the  river  would  be  a  more  simple  one. 

The  relative  thickness  of  the  different  layers  of 
material  forming  the  walls  of  the  Gorge  is  not  the  same 
throughout;  at  the  escarpment  at  Lewiston,  the  sum- 
mit is  found  to  consist  of  a  stratum  of  Niagara  lime- 
stone, about  twenty-five  feet  thick.  Beneath  this 
layer  of  lime  is  to  be  found  about  seventy  feet  of 
Niagara  shale.  The  Niagara  shale  rests  upon  a  twenty 
foot  layer  of  hard  Clinton  limestone,  which  in  turn  is 
supported  by  a  shale  seventy  feet  thick.  Forming 
the  base  is  twenty  feet  of  hard  Medina  sandstone, 
beneath  which  is  another  sandstone  which  is  much 
softer  and  much  more  susceptible  to  erosion  and  the 
disintegrating  forces  of  the  atmosphere.     These  thick 


68  The  Niagara  River 


&■ 


layers  of  shale  form  the  part  upon  which  the  atmospheric 
powers  exert  their  energies,  undermining  the  strata 
composed  of  material  which  with  much  more  effect 
resists  the  attempt  of  any  agency  to  break  it  down.  As 
the  shale  is  removed  from  beneath  the  harder  layers 
immense  masses  of  the  latter  fall  and  form  a  talus 
along  the  lower  part  of  the  cliff.  This  in  brief  is  the 
manner  in  which  the  mouth  of  the  Gorge  is  growing 
wider. 

The  present  width  of  the  mouth  of  the  Gorge  at  the 
water's  level  is  770  feet.  It  is  not  likely  that  the  river 
was  ever  any  wider  than  now  at  this  point,  since  its 
narrowest  portion  is  over  600  feet,  and  this  where  the 
hard  layer  of  Niagara  limestone  is  much  thicker  than 
at  the  mouth.  The  current  here  is  comparatively 
weak,  so  that  there  has  been  little  erosion  due  to  it. 
On  the  contrary  the  falling  masses  of  sandstone  and 
limestone  have  probably  encroached  somewhat  upon 
the  ancient  margin  of  the  stream,  its  weak  current 
being  unable  to  sweep  out  these  obstructions  which 
have  formed  an  effectual  protection  to  the  bank. 

The  observations  necessary  to  Dr.  Wright's  calcula- 
tions were  taken  along  the  line  of  a  railroad,  which, 
very  opportunely,  had  been  constructed  along  the 
eastern  cliff.  Here  for  a  distance  of  about  two  miles 
the  course  of  the  road  runs  diagonally  down  the  face 
of  the  cliff,  descending  in  that  distance  about  two  hun- 
dred feet,  and  in  its  descent  laying  bare  the  layers  of 
shale  upon  which  the  observations  must  be  made. 
Along  the  course  of  the  road  at  this  point,  watchmen 
are  continually  employed  to  remove  obstructions  fall- 
ing down  or  to  give  warning  of  danger  when  any  large 
masses  fall.     The  disintegration  goes  on  much  more 


The  Birth  of  Niagara  69 

rapidly  in  wet  thawing  weather  than  at  other  times 
of  the  year.  Often  in  the  spring  the  whole  force  of 
section  hands  is  required  for  several  days  to  dispose 
of  the  material  of  one  single  fall.  At  the  rate  of  one- 
fourth  of  an  inch  a  year  of  waste  along  this  cliff  there 
ought  to  fall  slightly  over  six  hundred  cubic  yards 
annually  for  each  mile  where  the  wall  is  150  feet  high. 
At  this  rate  the  enlargement  at  the  terminal  of  the 
Gorge  would  take  place,  Dr.  Wright  estimates,  in  some- 
what less  than  ten  thousand  years.  No  accounts  have 
been  kept  by  the  railroad  of  the  amount  of  fallen  mate- 
rial, but  some  estimate  can  be  made  from  the  cost  of 
removal  of  the  falling  stone,  together  with  the  obser- 
vations of  the  watchmen,  one  of  whom  has  been  in  the 
employ  of  the  railroad  in  this  capacity  for  twelve 
years,  and  also  by  noticing  the  distance  to  which  the 
cliff  has  receded  since  the  construction  of  the  road. 

Only  a  superficial  observer  can  see  at  once  that  the 
amount  of  removal  has  been  greatly  in  excess  of  the 
rate  mentioned  above.  The  watchman,  of  whom 
mention  has  been  made,  was  in  the  employ  of  the  com- 
pany which  constructed  the  road  in  1854,  and  therefore 
knows  where  the  original  face  of  the  cliff  was  located. 
At  one  point,  where  the  road  descends  to  the  Clinton 
limestone,  the  whole  face  of  the  Niagara  shale  is  laid 
bare.  Here  the  shale  has  been  removed  to  a  distance 
of  twenty  feet  from  its  original  position,  and  the  rocks 
forming  the  roof  overhang  to  about  that  distance. 
Now  this  mass  of  shale  must  have  been  removed  since 
1854.  This  would  require  a  rate  of  disintegration  much 
in  excess  of  the  one  assumed.  Necessarily  some  allow- 
ance must  be  made  for  the  fact  that  the  atmospheric 
agencies  have  here  had  a  fresh  section  of  the  shale  upon 


70  The  Niagara  River 

which  to  work.  Yet  making  all  due  allowance  for  the 
above  condition,  the  rate  at  the  mouth  of  the  Gorge 
C(  >uld  not  have  been  much  less  than  that  assumed  above. 
The  actual  process  of  the  enlargement  has  been  peri- 
odic. As  the  falling  shale  undermines  more  and  more 
the  capping  hard  layers,  from  time  to  time  these  latter 
fall  in  immense  masses.  Any  calculation  of  age  based 
upon  a  few  years  of  disintegration  would  be  worthless ; 
but  one  based  upon  centuries  would  come  very  near  a 
true  average.  The  walls  of  the  Gorge  were  at  first  per- 
pendicular, but  as  the  undermining,  process  goes  on  they 
become  sloped  more  and  more,  the  falling  masses  form- 
ing a  protection  to  the  lower  parts  of  the  softer  strata. 
One  fact,  however,  to  be  noticed  is  that  this  protecting 
talus  has  never  as  yet  reached  so  high  as  to  stop  the 
work  of  the  disintegrating  agencies.  The  horizontal 
distance  from  the  water's  edge  back  to  the  face  of  the 
Niagara  limestone,  which  forms  the  top  of  the  cliff,  is 
380  feet.  On  the  above  assumption  of  the  rate  of  reces- 
sion as  one-fourth  of  an  inch  annually,  the  rate  at  the 
top  of  the  cliff  must  have  been  about  one-half  inch  for 
each  year.  From  the  observations  made,  it  is  difficult 
to  believe  that  the  retreat  of  this  upper  portion  has 
been  at  a  lower  rate  than  a  half-inch  yearly ;  if  this  be 
true,  this  new  line  of  evidence  places  the  birth  of  the 
Niagara  and  the  beginning  of  the  cutting  of  the  Gorge 
at  Lewiston  at  about  ten  thousand  years  ago. 

The  history  of  the  Great  Lakes  and  the  birth  of 
Niagara  have  a  different  interest  for  us,  than  alone  to 
form  the  connecting  link  between  the  present  and  a 
past  age  devoid  of  life.  Closely  connected  with  this 
geologic  history  is  the  history  of  the  human  race.  Un- 
fortunately for  us,  the  men  inhabiting  these  parts  in 


CD 

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The  Birth  of  Niagara  7 1 

prehistoric  ages  have  not  left  the  traces  of  their  existence 
upon  the  rocks  and  sands  as  have  the  waters  of  Niagara 
and  the  Lakes.  Meagre,  however,  as  is  our  knowledge 
we  are  still  confident  that  man  has  been  a  comrade  of 
the  river  during  its  entire  history.  Much  to  our  disap- 
pointment, he  was  not  possessed  with  the  means  of 
recording  his  knowledge  for  the  satisfaction  of  future 
generations.  Probably  no  such  thought  ever  entered 
his  brain.  All  that  we  know  is,  that  along  the  old 
deserted  shores  of  Lake  Ontario  in  New  York,  which 
now  form  the  Ridge  Road,  he  constructed  a  rude  hearth 
and  built  a  fire  thereon.  The  shifting  of  elevation  or 
the  rising  of  the  surface  of  the  lake  buried  beneath  the 
waters  hearth,  ashes,  and  charred  sticks,  and  thus  by 
a  mere  accident  do  we  know  that  human  history 
extends  back  at  least  as  far  as  the  Ice  Age. 

In  these  modern  days,  when  we  are  prone  to  believe 
that  all  forms  of  animate  existence  and  inanimate  as 
well  have  been  the  result  of  an  evolution,  we  cannot 
think  of  the  man  who  possessed  the  art  of  fire  as  the 
primeval  man.  Whatever  age  may  be  assigned  to  the 
Niagara,  whatever  may  be  the  antiquity  of  that  great 
cataract,  upon  which  we  are  wont  to  look  as  everlast- 
ing, the  age  of  the  human  race  must  be  considered 
greater. 


Chapter  IV 
Niagara  Bond  and  Free 

NO  one  acquainted  with  the  Niagara  of  to-day 
can  imagine  what  were  the  conditions  exist- 
ing here  before  the  days  of  the  New  York 
State  Reservation  and  Queen  Victoria  Park. 
That  old  Niagara  of  private  ownership,  with  a  new  fee 
for  every  point  of  vantage,  was  a  barbarous  incongruity 
only  matched  by  the  wonder  and  beauty  of  the  spec- 
tacle itself.  The  admission  to  Goat  Island  was  fifty 
cents,  and  to  the  Cave  of  the  Winds,  one  dollar.  To 
gain  Prospect  Park,  the  "Art  Gallery,"  the  inclined  rail- 
way, or  the  ferry,  the  charge  was  twenty-five  cents.  It 
cost  one  dollar  to  go  to  the  "Shadow  of  the  Rock,"  or 
go  behind  the  Horseshoe  Fall.  The  admission  to  the 
Burning  Spring  was  fifty  cents,  likewise  to  Lundy's 
Lane  battle-ground,  the  Whirlpool  Rapids,  the  Whirl- 
pool. It  cost  twenty-five  cents  to  go  upon  either  of 
the  suspension  bridges.  In  addition  to  this  a  swarm 
of  pedlars  were  hawking  their  wares  at  your  elbows, 
and  tents  were  pitched  at  every  vantage  point,  contain- 
ing the  tallest  man  or  the  fattest  woman,  or  the  most 
astonishing  reptile  then  in  a  state  of  captivity  in  all 
the  world. 

Not  even  the  five-legged  calves  missed  their  share 
of  plunder  at  Niagara,  according  to  Mr.  Howells,  who 

72 


Beacon  on  Old  Breakwater  at  Buffalo. 


Niagara  Bond  and  Free  73 

paid  his  money  out  to  assure  himself,  as  he  affirms, 
that  this  marvel  was  in  no  wise  comparable  to  the  Falls. 
"  I  do  not  say  that  the  picture  of  the  calf  on  the  outside 
of  the  tent,"  he  observes,  "was  not  as  good  as  some 
pictures  of  Niagara  I  have  seen.  It  was,  at  least,  as 
much  like."  A  writer  of  a  decade  before  this  (1850) 
speaks  very  strongly  of  the  impositions  to  which  a  trav- 
eller is  subjected  at  Niagara.  How  early  in  the  century 
complaints  began  to  appear  cannot  be  stated ;  it  would 
be  interesting  to  be  able  to  get  information  on  this  point 
since  it  would  determine  a  more  important  matter  still 
— the  time  when  the  Falls  began  to  attract  visitors  in 
sufficient  proportions  to  bring  into  existence  the  evils 
we  find  very  prevalent  at  the  middle  of  the  century. 
The  latter  writer  observes : 

It  would  be  paying  Niagara  a  poor  compliment  to  say  that, 
practically  she  does  not  hurl  off  this  chaffering  by-play  from 
her  cope;  but  as  you  value  the  integrity  of  your  impression,  you 
are  bound  to  affirm  that  it  hereby  suffers  appreciable  abatement ; 
you  wonder,  as  you  stroll  about,  whether  it  is  altogether  an 
unrighteous  dream  that  with  the  slow  progress  of  culture,  and  the 
possible  or  impossible  growth  of  some  larger  comprehension  of 
beauty  and  fitness,  the  public  conscience  may  not  tend  to  ensure 
to  such  sovereign  phases  of  nature  something  of  the  inviolability 
and  privacy  which  we  are  slow  to  bestow,  indeed,  upon  fame, 
but  which  we  do  not  grudge,  at  least,  to  art.  We  place  a  great 
picture,  a  great  statue,  in  a  museum;  we  erect  a  great  monument 
in  the  centre  of  our  largest  square,  and  if  we  can  suppose  our- 
selves nowadays  building  a  cathedral,  we  should  certainly  iso- 
late it  as  much  as  possible  and  subject  it  to  no  ignoble  contact. 
We  cannot  build  about  Niagara  with  walls  and  a  roof,  nor  girdle 
it  with  a  palisade;  but  the  sentimental  tourist  may  muse  upon 
the  chances  of  its  being  guarded  by  the  negative  homage  of 
empty  spaces,  and  absent  barracks,  and  decent  forbearance. 
The  actual  abuse  of  the  scene  belongs  evidently  to  that  immense 


74  The  Niagara  River 

class  of  iniquities  which  are  destined  to  grow  very  much  worse 
in  order  to  grow  a  very  little  better.  The  good  humour  en- 
gendered by  the  main  spectacle  bids  you  suffer  it  to  run  its 
course. 

There  was  at  least  no  bettering  of  conditions  at 
Niagara  between  1850  and  1881,  when  more  or  less 
active  steps  began  to  be  taken  for  the  freeing  of  the 
beautiful  shrine.  True,  Goat  Island  was  kept  ever  in 
its  primeval  beauty,  which  by  far  counterbalanced  the 
Porter  mills  on  Bath  Island;  as  William  Dean  How- 
ells  wrote,  while  these  "were  impertinent  to  the  scenery 
they  were  picturesque  with  their  low-lying,  weather- 
worn masses  in  the  shelter  of  the  forest  trees  beside 
the  brawling  waters'  head.  But  nearly  every  other 
assertion  of  private  rights  in  the  landscape  was  an 
outrage  to  it." 

One  of  the  strongest  direct  appeals  to  the  nation's 
conscience  in  behalf  of  enslaved  Niagara  appeared  in 
1 88 1  and  is  worthy  of  reproduction,  if  only  for  its  vivid 
description  of  the  status  of  affairs  at  the  Falls  at  that 
time: 

The  homage  of  the  world  has  thrown  a  halo  round  Niagara  for 
those  who  have  not  seen  it,  and  Niagara  has  left  its  own  impress 
upon  every  thoughtful  person  who  has  seen  it,  and  every  un- 
pleasant feature  therefore  is  brought  into  bold  relief.  Where 
the  carcass  is,  there  also  will  the  eagles  be  gathered  together. 
A  continuous  stream  of  open-mouthed  travellers  has  offered 
rare  opportunities  to  the  quick-witted  money-makers  of  all 
kinds;  the  contrast  between  the  place  and  its  surroundings, 
perceived  at  first  by  the  few,  has  been  for  years  trumpeted 
throughout  the  country  by  the  number  of  correspondents  who 
write  periodical  accounts  of  the  season,  and  to-day  every  sane 
adult  citizen  may  be  said  to  know  two  things  about  Niagara: 
first,  that  there  is  a  great  waterfall  there,  and  second,  that  a 


Winter  Scene  in  Prospect  Park. 


Niagara  Bond  and  Free  75 

man's  pockets  will  be  emptied  more  quickly  there  than  anywhere 
else  in  the  Union.  .  .  .  Niagara  is  being  destroyed  as  a  summer 
resort.  It  has  long  since  ceased  to  be  a  place  where  people  stay 
for  a  week  or  more,  and  it  is  now  given  up  to  second-class  tourists, 
and  excursionists  who  are  brought  by  the  car-load.  The  constant 
fees,  the  solicitation  of  the  hackmen,  the  impertinences  of  the 
store-keepers,  have  actually  been  so  potent  that  it  is  a  rare  thing 
to  find  any  of  the  best  people  here.  The  hotels  are  not  to  blame ; 
the  Cataract  House  for  instance,  is  a  quiet,  comfortable  hotel, 
excellently  managed,  and  in  the  hands  of  gentlemanly  pro- 
prietors, and  it  is  probably  by  no  means  alone  in  this  respect. 
The  hotel-keepers  are  aware  of  the  state  of  things;  they  do  not 
encourage  the  excursion  traffic.  Some  even  seek  to  avoid  the 
patronage  of  the  excursionists.  From  all  over  the  country — 
from  places  as  far  as  Louisville — the  railway  company  bring 
the  people  by  thousands :  they  pour  out  of  the  station  in  a  stream 
half  a  mile  long.  Of  course,  like  locusts,  they  sweep  everything 
before  them.  Several  places — Prospect  Park,  for  instance — 
cater  to  the  tastes  of  this  class  alone.  Several  evenings  in  the 
week  Prospect  Park  is  filled  with  a  crowd  of  free-and-easy  men 
and  women,  fetching  their  own  tea  and  coffee  and  provisions 
and  enjoying  a  rollicking  dance  in  the  Pavilion.  And  all  this 
within  fifty  yards  of  the  American  fall !  For  their  entertainment 
there  is  an  illuminated  spray-fountain,  and  their  appreciation 
knows  no  bounds  when  various  coloured  lights  are  thrown  upon 
the  Falls.  Then  a  crowd  of  fifty  swoops  down  upon  one  of  the 
hotels — men,  women,  and  children — all  in  brown  linen  dusters; 
all  hot,  hungry,  and  careless.  These  people  must  not  be  deprived 
of  their  recreation.  Heaven  forbid!  None  have  a  greater  right 
than  they  to  the  influence  of  Niagara.  But  this  way  of  visiting 
the  place  is  all  wrong;  they  derive  little  benefit,  and  they  do 
infinite  harm. 

In  this  second  sense  the  destruction  of  Niagara  is  making 
rapid  strides  in  a  far  more  dangerous  direction.  The  natural 
attractions  of  the  place  are  being  undermined.  On  the  American 
side  the  bank  of  the  river  above  the  Falls  is  covered  for  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  with  structures  of  all  kinds,  from  the  extensive  parlors 
and  piazzas  of  the  Cataract  House  to  the  little  shanty  where  the 
Indian  goods  of  Irish  manufacture  are  sold. 


76  The  Niagara  River 

For  the  purpose  of  securing  bathrooms  and  water-power, 
dams  of  all  kinds  have  been  built;  these  are  wooden  trenches 
filled  with  rough  paving-stones.  Some  of  the  structures  project 
over  the  Rapids,  being  supported  by  piles.  The  spaces  between 
the  various  buildings  are  used  to  store  lumber,  and  as  dust 
heaps.  One  of  them  contains  a  great  heap  of  saw-dust,  another 
a  pile  of  scrap-iron.  The  banks  and  fences  bear  invitations  to 
purchase  Parker's  hair-balsam  and  ginger  tonic.  The  proprietor 
of  Prospect  Park  has  made  a  laudable  attempt  to  plant  trees 
upon  his  land;  these  extend  for  a  few  yards  above  the  Falls. 
In  return,  however,  he  has  erected  coloured  arbours,  and  a 
station  for  his  electric  light,  which  are  almost  as  unpleasant  as 
the  other  buildings. 

Just  below  the  Suspension  Bridge  the  gas-works  discharge 
their  tar  down  the  bank  into  the  river;  a  few  yards  further  on 
there  are  five  or  six  large  manufactories,  whose  tail-races  empty 
themselves  over  the  cliff.  The  spectator  on  Goat  Island,  on  the 
Suspension  Bridge,  or  on  the  Canadian  side  cannot  help  seeing 
this  mass  of  incongruous  and  ugly  structures  extending  along  the 
whole  course  of  the  Rapids  and  to  the  brink  of  the  Falls.  Of 
course,  under  these  circumstances  the  Rapids  are  degraded  into 
a  mill-race,  and  the  Fall  itself  seems  to  be  lacking  a  water-wheel. 

One  half  of  Bath  Island — which  lies  between  Goat  Island  and 
the  shore — is  filled  with  the  ruins  of  a  large  paper-mill  which 
was  burnt  in  1880.  It  is  now  being  rebuilt  and  greatly  enlarged. 
Masses  of  charred  timbers,  old  iron,  calcined  stones  and  bricks, 
two  or  three  great  rusty  boilers,  the  dirty  heaps  surmounted  by 
a  tall  chimney — such  are  the  surroundings  of  a  spot,  which,  for 
grandeur  and  romantic  beauty,  is  not  equalled  in  the  world. 
A  short  distance  below  Bath  Island  lies  Bird  Island,  a  mere 
clump  of  trees  in  the  midst  of  the  rushing  water,  a  mass  of  dark- 
green  foliage  overhanging  its  banks  and  trailing  its  branches 
carelessly  in  the  foam.  This  little  spot  has  been  untrodden  by 
man — the  most  fearless  savage  would  not  risk  his  birch-bark 
boat  in  these  waters.  But  what  those  who  profit  by  it  call  the 
rapid  strides  of  commercial  industry,  or  possibly  the  development 
of  our  national  resources,  will  soon  destroy  this  little  piece  of 
Nature;  already  the  owners  of  the  paper-mill  have  built  their 
dam  within  twenty  yards  of  it,  extending  through  the  waters  like 


Niagara  Bond  and  Free  77 

the  limb  of  some  horrid  spider,  slowly  but  surely  reaching  its  prey. 
Let  the  connection  be  made,  and  a  couple  of  men  with  axes  turned 
loose  in  this  little  green  island,  and  before  long  the  rattle  of  a 
donkey-engine  or  the  howl  of  a  saw-mill  swells  the  chorus  of  this 
soi-disant  civilisation.  The  following  does  not  sound  very  en- 
couraging for  the  preservation  of  Niagara's  scenery.  It  is  taken 
from  a  paper,  Niagara  as  a  Water  Power: 

.  .  .  Hence  it  is  that  we  are  soon  to  see  a  development 
of  this  peculiar  power  of  Niagara  which  will  stand  unrivalled 
among  motors  of  its  class  in  the  world. 

"  Already  people  talk  of  the  storage  of  electricity  and  quote 
the  opinions  of  scientists  about  the  possibilities  of  the  future. 
Sir  William  Thompson — it  is  said — gave  as  his  opinion  that 
it  would  be  perfectly  feasible  to  light  London  with  electricity 
generated  at  Niagara. 

"There  is  no  assurance  that  Goat  Island  may  not  be  sold  at 
any  moment  for  the  erection  of  a  mill  or  factory.  Indeed  if  a 
rapid  development  of  the  mechanical  application  of  electricity 
should  take  place — thus  enabling  speculators  to  offer  very  high 
prices  for  the  immense  power  that  could  be  controlled  from  Goat 
Island,  it  is  almost  certain  that  such  a  sale  would  result.  And 
with  its  accomplishment  would  disappear  the  last  chance  of 
saving  Niagara !  " 


The  honour  of  first  suggesting  the  preservation  of 
Niagara  Falls  has  been  claimed  by  many  persons.  But 
the  first  real  suggestion  dates  back  as  early  as  1835, 
though  made  without  details.  It  came  from  two 
Scotchmen,  Andrew  Reed  and  James  Matheson,  who, 
in  a  volume  describing  their  visits  to  Congregational 
churches  of  this  country,  first  broached  the  idea  that 
Niagara  should  "be  deemed  the  property  of  civilised 
mankind." 

In  1885,  by  the  labours  of  several  distinguished  men, 
principally  Mr.  Frederick  Law  Olmsted,  a  bill  was 
passed  in  the  Legislature  of  New  York  instructing  the 


78  The  Niagara  River 

c<  >mmissioners  of  the  State  Survey  to  prepare  a  report 
on  the  conditions  and  prospects  of  Niagara.  This 
report  was  prepared  by  Mr.  James  T.  Gardner,  the 
director  of  the  New  York  State  Survey,  and  Mr.  Olm- 
sted.     It  strongly  protested   against  such  waste    and 

radation  of  the  scenery  as  have  been  described 
m  this  chapter;  it  set  forth  the  dangers  of  ultimate 
destruction,  and  made  an  eloquent  appeal  in  favour 

Mate  action  to  preserve  this  natural  treasure.  The 
report  strongly  urged  the  establishment  of  an  "  In- 
ternational Park,"  and  gave  details  of  its  construction 
with  maps  and  views.  It  proposed  that  a  strip  of  land 
a  mile  long  and  varying  from  one  hundred  feet  to 
eight  hundred  feet  broad,  together  with  the  buildings 
on  it,  should  be  condemned  by  the  State,  appraised  by 
a  commission,  and  purchased.  The  erections  on  Bath 
Island  and  in  the  Rapids  were  to  be  swept  away. 
Trees  and  shrubberies  were  to  be  planted,  roads  and 
foot-paths  appropriately  laid  out.  The  cost  was  esti- 
mated at  one  million  dollars.1 

Why  the  bill  should  have  met  with  so  much  oppo- 
sition before  it  was  finally  passed,  is  to-day  a  question 
hard  to  answer;  at  any  rate  the  political  history  of  the 
bill  is  interesting. 

As  in  the  case  of  most  modern  propositions  the 
question  was  generally  asked: 

"  Is  the  game  worth  the  candle?  Is  it  worth  while 
to  spend  a  million  dollars — to  take  twenty-five  cents 
out  of  the  pocket  of  each  tax-payer  in  the  State  of  New 
York — in  order  to  destroy  a  lot  of  good  buildings  and 
plant  trees  in  place  of  them,  and,  moreover,  to  do  this 
for  the  sake  of  a  few  persons  whose  nerves  are  so  deli- 

1  The  Xation,  No.  84  (September  1,  1881). 


Niagara  Bond  and  Free  79 

cate  that  the  sight  of  a  tremendous  body  of  water  rush- 
ing over  a  precipice  is  spoiled  for  them  by  a  pulp-mill 
standing  on  the  banks?" 

Indeed,  it  is  said  on  good  authority,  that  Governor 
Cornell,  after  listening  to  a  description  of  the  shameful 
condition  at  the  Falls  and  the  surroundings  at  the  time 
when  he  sat  in  the  gubernatorial  chair  remarked: 
"Well,  the  water  goes  over  just  the  same  does  n't  it?  " 

Mr.  Cleveland,  being  elected  Governor  of  New  York 
in  1882  seemed  always  in  favour  of  the  preservation 
of  the  scenery  at  Niagara  Falls.  Governor  Robinson, 
in  1879,  likewise  an  advocate  of  the  idea,  even  caused 
some  preliminary  steps  to  be  taken  but  the  follow- 
ing gentlemen  especially  deserve  to  be  entered  in  the 
Golden  Book  of  Niagara:  Thomas  K.  Beecher,  James 
J.  Belden,  R.  Lenox  Belknap,  Prof.  E.  Chadwick, 
Erastus  Corning,  Geo.  W.  Curtis,  Hon.  James  Daly, 
Benjamin  Doolittle,  Edgar  van  Etter,  R.  E.  Fen  ton, 
H.  H.  Frost,  General  James  W.  Husted,  Thomas  L. 
James,  Thomas  Kingsford,  Benson  J.  Lossing,  Seth 
Low,  Luther  R.  Marsh,  Randolph  B.  Martine,  Rufus 
H.  Peckham,  Howard  Potter,  D.  W.  Powers,  Pascal 
P.  Pratt,  Ripley  Ropes,  Horatio  Seymour,  Geo.  B. 
Sloan,  Samuel  J.  Tilden,  Senator  Titus,  Theodore 
Vorhees,  Francis  H.  Weeks,  Wm.  A.  Wheeler.  They 
all  made  strenuous  efforts  to  advance  the  bill  intro- 
duced into  the  Legislature  by  Jacob  F.  Miller  of  New 
York  City.  One  of  its  foremost  promoters  also  was 
Mr.  Thomas  V.  Welch,  Superintendent  of  the  New  York 
State  Reservation  at  Niagara,  whose  valuable  pamphlet 
How  Niagara  was  Made  Free  affords  much  of  our  mate- 
rial for  this  chapter.  A  bill  entitled  "Niagara  Reser- 
vation Act"  passed  the  New  York  Assembly  and  the 


80  The  Niagara  River 

Senate,  and  was  signed  by  Grover  Cleveland  on  April 
30,  1883.  Commissioners  were  appointed  consisting  of 
William  Dorsheimer,  Sherman  S.  Rogers,  Andrew  H. 
Green,  J.  Hampden  Robb,  and  Martin  B.  Anderson.  But 
the  final  bill  had  to  undergo  many  vicissitudes  ere  it 
was  lastly  amended  and  passed.  The  appraisals  alone 
amounted  to  $1,433,429.50,  and  the  then  existing 
financial  depression  had  to  be  dispelled  before  anything 
definite  could  be  done.  Between  1883  and  1885  there 
arose  a  most  unjustifiable  raid  against  the  measure. 
I  have  already  alluded  to  it  above.  John  J.  Piatt  of 
the  Poughkeepsie  Eagle  wrote  for  instance :  "  We  regard 
this  Niagara  scheme  as  one  of  the  most  unnecessary 
and  unjustifiable  raids  upon  the  State  Treasury  ever 
attempted."  Mr.  Piatt  became  later  on  a  warm 
advocate  of  the  plan,  but  the  wrong  was  done.  Some 
denounced  the  bill  as  a  "job"  and  a  "steal"  and 
berated  Niagara  Falls  and  its  citizens,  particularly  the 
hackmen,  hotel-men,  and  bazaar-keepers  as  sharks  and 
swindlers,  who  had  robbed  the  people  individually 
and  were  now  seeking  to  rob  them  collectively.  They 
said  they  would  oppose  the  bill  by  every  means, 
hoped  it  would  be  defeated — bursts  of  temper  mildly 
suggestive  of  strangers  who  had  visited  Niagara  and 
had  suffered  at  the  hands  of  her  showmen  in  the  golden 
days  of  Niagara's  army  of  fakirs  and  extortionists. 

Thus  the  matter  dragged  and  great  fears  were  en- 
tertained that  the  case  would  be  lost.  Meanwhile  the 
above-named  prominent  citizens  had  not  been  idle. 
They  had  sent  to  their  friends  and  constituents  a  kind 
of  a  circular  and  obtained  about  four  thousand  sig- 
natures in  favour  of  the  measure.  Clergymen,  educa- 
tors, editors,  and    attorneys    were   well    represented; 


1-1  a 
_<  i 
.5  g 


tf 


,3  £ 


Niagara  Bond  and  Free  81 

medical  men  without  exception  signed  the  petition, 
which  was  finally  submitted  to  Governor  Hill.  For  a 
time  it  almost  seemed  that  the  Governor  shared  the 
views  of  Governor  Cornell.  He  was  "  pestered  to  death  " 
in  behalf  of  the  bill  until  the  matter  actually  created 
a  stir,  as  though  the  very  welfare  of  the  State  depended 
on  it.  Great  pressure  was  brought  on  Mr.  Hill  to  sign 
the  bill;  he  visited  the  Falls  himself,  went  over  the 
ground,  but  he  was  non-committal  and  even  his  inti- 
mates had  no  idea  whether  he  would  affix  his  signature. 
Yet  he  seemed  apparently  more  favourably  disposed 
than  heretofore. 

There  was  left  a  feeling  of  uneasiness  and  uncertainty  [writes 
Mr.  Welch],  concerning  the  fate  of  the  bill.  Another  week  passed. 
Rumours  were  rife  concerning  the  intention  of  the  Governor 
to  let  the  bill  die,  in  lack  of  his  signature,  and  thus  arrived  the 
30th  of  April,  1885,  the  last  day  for  the  scheme  allowed  by  law. 

The  forenoon  was  spent  in  a  state  of  feverish  anxiety — not 
lessened  by  frequent  rumours  of  a  veto  in  the  Senate  or  Assembly ; 
some  of  them  started  in  a  spirit  of  mischief  by  the  newspaper 
reporters.  When  noon  came,  it  seemed  as  if  the  bill  would  surely 
fail  for  lack  of  executive  approval.  But  the  darkest  hour  is 
just  before  daybreak.  Shortly  after  noon  a  newspaper  man 
hurriedly  came  to  the  writer 1  in  the  Assembly  chamber  and  said 
that  the  Governor  had  just  signed  the  Niagara  Bill.  A  hurried 
passage  was  made  to  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State  to  see 
if  the  bill  had  been  received  from  the  Governor.  It  had  not  been 
received.  At  that  moment  the  door  was  opened  by  the  Govern- 
or's messenger  who  placed  the  bill  in  the  hands  of  the  writer 
saying  "  Here  is  your  little  joker."  A  glance  at  the  bill  showed 
it  to  be  the  "Niagara  Reservation  Bill,"  and  on  the  last  page  was 
the  much  coveted  signature  of  David  B.  Hill,  rivalling  that  of 
Mr.  Grover  Cleveland  in  diminutive  handwriting. 

It  is  reported  that  the  "  King  of  the  Lobby,"  a  man  notorious 
for  years  in  Albany,  expressed  his  satisfaction  at  the  approval 

1  Mr.  Thomas  V.  Welch,  loc.  cit. 
6 


82  The  Niagara  River 

of  the  bill,  saying  "The  'boys'  wanted  to  'strike'  that  bill,  but 
I  told  them  that  they  must  not  do  it;  that  it  was  a  bill  which 
ought  to  pass  without  the  expenditure  of  a  dollar — and  it  did." 

The  Report  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  State 
Reservation  at  Niagara  lies  before  me.  It  is  dated 
February  17,  1885.1  The  commissioners  were  ap- 
pointed in  1883  to  consider  and  report  what,  if  any, 
measures  it  might  be  expedient  for  the  State  to  adopt 
carrying  out  the  project  to  place  Niagara  under  the 
control  of  Canada  and  New  York  according  to  the 
suggestions  contained  in  the  annual  message  of  Gov- 
ernor Cleveland  with  respect  to  Niagara  Falls.  The 
report  states  that  the  attractions  of  the  scenery  and 
climate  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Falls  are  such  that 
with  their  ready  accessibility  by  several  favourite 
routes  of  travel  it  might  reasonably  be  expected  that 
Niagara  would  be  a  popular  summer  resort;  that  there 
was  nevertheless,  no  desirable  summer  population,  at- 
tributed chiefly  to  the  constant  annoyances  to  which 
the  traveller  is  subjected:  pestering  demands  and 
solicitations,  and  petty  exactions  and  impositions  by 
which  he  is  everywhere  met.  While  it  is  true  that 
such  annoyances  are  felt  wherever  travellers  are  drawn 
in  large  numbers,  at  Niagara  the  inconvenience  becomes 
greater  because  the  distinctive  interest  of  Niagara  as 
compared  with  other  attractive  scenery  is  remarkably 
circumscribed  and  concentrated.  That  the  value  of 
Niagara  lies  in  its  appeal  to  the  higher  emotion  and 
imaginative  faculties  and  should  not  be  disturbed  and 
irritated;  that  tolls  and  fees  had  to  be  removed; 
traffic  was  to  be  excluded  from  the  limits  from  whence 

1  Senate  Document,  No.  35,  Albany,  N.  Y. 


Niagara  Bond  and  Free  S3 

the  chief  splendour  of  the  scenery  was  visible.  That 
the  only  prospect  of  relief  was  to  be  found  in  State 
control;  that  the  forest  was  rapidly  destroyed  which 
once  formed  the  perfect  setting  of  one  of  Nature's 
most  gorgeous  panoramas,  and  that  the  erection 
of  mills  and  factories  upon  the  margin  of  the  river  had 
a  most  injurious  effect  upon  the  character  of  the  scene. 
It  was  therefore  resolved  on  June  9,    1883,   that 

in  the  judgment  of  this  board  it  is  desirable  to  select  as  proper 
and  necessary  to  be  reserved  for  the  purpose  of  preserving  the 
scenery  of  the  falls  of  Niagara  and  of  restoring  the  said  scenery 
to  its  natural  condition,  the  following  lands  situate  in  the 
village  of  Niagara  and  the  County  of  Niagara  to-wit:  Goat 
Island,  Bath  Island,  the  Three  Sisters,  Bird  Island,  Luna 
Island,  Chapin  Island,  and  the  small  islands  adjacent  to  said 
islands  in  the  Niagara  River,  and  the  bed  of  said  river  between 
said  islands  and  the  main  land  of  the  State  of  New  York;  and, 
also,  the  bed  of  said  river  between  Goat  Island  and  the  Canadian 
boundary;  also  a  strip  of  land  beginning  near  "Port  Day" 
in  said  village,  running  along  the  shore  of  said  river,  to  and  in- 
cluding "Prospect  Park"  and  the  cliff  and  debris  slope,  under 
the  same,  substantially  as  shown  by  that  part  coloured  green 
on  the  map  accompanying  the  fourth  report  of  the  Board  of 
Commissioners  of  the  State  Survey,  dated  March  22,  1880;  and 
including  also  at  the  east  end  of  said  strip  sufficient  land  not 
exceeding  one  acre  for  purposes  convenient  for  said  reservation, 
and  also  all  lands  at  the  foot  of  said  falls,  and  all  lands  in  said 
river  adjoining  said  islands  and  the  other  lands  hereinbefore 
described. 

By  the  adoption  of  the  foregoing  resolution,  the 
area  of  a  reservation  was  preliminarily  defined.  A 
commission  of  appraisement  was  installed.  As  was  to  be 
expected  the  claims  for  the  condemned  land  were  about 
four  million  dollars.  The  awards,  however,  amounted 
to  $1,433,429.50  only.     Some  interesting  and  import- 


84  The  Niagara  River 

ant  questions  were  raised  as  to  the  rights  of  the  riparian 
owners  to  use  the  power  afforded  by  the  Niagara  River 
for  hydraulic  purposes  and  to  receive  compensation 
therefor.  Upon  this  basis  the  owners  were  prepared 
to  present  claims  aggregating  twenty  or  thirty  millions 
of  dollars.  After  full  argument  and  careful  considera- 
tion, the  commissioners  of  appraisement  rejected  all 
such  claims,  except  where  the  water  power  had  been 
actually  reduced  to  use  and  used  for  a  period  long 
enough  to  create  a  prescriptive  right.    They  held: 

(i)  that  Niagara  is  a  public  stream,  and  its  bed  and  waters 
belong  to  the  State;  (2)  that  as  against  the  State  private 
riparian  owners  have  no  right  to  encroach  on  its  bed  to  divert 
its  waters  or  to  subject  them  to  the  burden  of  manufacturing 
uses,  unless  they  have  acquired  such  right  by  grant  from  the 
State  or  by  prescription. 

The  preamble  of  the  Preservation  Act  *  which  was  to 
make  Niagara  free  read: 

Whereas,  the  State  Engineer  and  Surveyor  has  completed 
and  submitted  to  this  board  a  map  of  the  lands  selected  and 
located  by  it  in  the  village  of  Niagara  Falls  and  the  County  of 
Niagara  and  State  of  New  York,  which,  in  the  judgment  of 
this  board  are  proper  and  necessary  to  be  reserved  for  the  pur- 
pose of  preserving  the  scenery  of  the  falls  of  Niagara,  and 
restoring  the  said  scenery  to  its  natural  condition;  now,  there- 
fore, it  is  Resolved,  etc. 

1  Resolved,  That  this  board  hereby  selects  and  locates  the  lands  here- 
after described,  situate  in  the  village  of  Niagara  Falls,  and  the  County  of 
Niagara  and  State  of  New  York,  as  in  the  opinion  of  this  board  proper 
and  necessary  to  be  reserved  for  the  purpose  of  preserving  the  scenery  of 
the  falls  of  Niagara,  and  restoring  the  said  scenery  to  its  natural  condition, 
and  does  hereby  determine  to  take  such  land  for  the  purposes  aforesaid, 
and  which  said  land  is  bounded  and  described  as  follows,  to-wit:  All 
that  certain  piece  or  parcel  of  land  situate  in  the  village  of  Niagara  Falls, 
town  and  County  of  Niagara,  State  of  New  York,  distinguished  in  part  as 
part  of  lots  numbers  forty-two  (42),  forty-three  (43),  and  forty-four  (44) 


Niagara  Bond  and  Free  85 

On  the  morning  of  July  15th  the  Seventh  Battery 
unlimbered  its  howitzers  to  salute  the  rising  sun  with 
a  hundred  salvos.  The  day  unfortunately  proved  dark 
and  foreboding.  A  storm  burst  in  the  morning  and 
drove  the  crowds  to  shelter,  and  the  last  drops  had 
hardly  ceased  pattering,  when  the  hour  of  noon,  the 
time  fixed  for  the  ceremony,  arrived.    The  grounds  of 

of  the  mile  strip,  as  the  same  was  surveyed  and  conveyed  by  the  State  of 
New  York,  in  part  as  islands  known  as  Goat  island,  Bath  island,  the 
Three  Sisters,  Bird  island,  Luna  island,  Chapin  island,  Ship  island,  Brig 
island,  Robinson's  island,  and  other  small  islands  lying  in  Niagara  river 
adjacent  and  near  to  the  islands  above-named,  and  in  part  as  lands 
lying  under  the  Niagara  river,  bounded  and  described  as  follows,  to-wit: 
Beginning  at  a  point  on  the  easterly  bank  of  the  Niagara  river,  where 
the  same  is  met  and  intersected  by  the  division  line  between  lands  now  or 
formerly  occupied  by  Albert  H.  Porter,  and  lands  now  or  formerly  owned 
or  occupied  by  the  Niagara  Falls  Hydraulic  and  Manufacturing  Canal 
Company;  running  thence  on  a  course  north  three  degrees  forty-nine  and 
one-fourth  minutes  west;  along  said  last  mentioned  division  line,  one 
(1)  chain  and  ninety-five  (95)  links  to  a  stone  monument  standing  in  the 
southerly  line  of  Buffalo  street,  in  the  village  of  Niagara  Falls;  thence  on 
a  course  south  eighty-six  degrees  forty-five  and  one-fourth  minutes  west 
along  said  southerly  line  of  Buffalo  street  ninety  and  nine-tenths  (90.9) 
links  to  a  point  in  the  division  line  between  lands  now  or  formerly  owned 
or  occupied  by  Albert  H.  Porter,  and  lands  now  or  formerly  owned  or  oc- 
cupied by  the  estate  of  Augustus  S.  Porter;  thence  on  a  course  south 
eighty-six  degrees  forty-five  and  one-fourth  minutes  west  along  said 
southerly  line  of  Buffalo  street  ninety  and  nine-tenths  (90.9)  links  to  a 
point  in  the  division  line  between  lands  now  or  formerly  owned  or  occupied 
by  the  estate  of  Augustus  S.  Porter  and  lands  owned  or  occupied  by  Jane  S. 
Townsend;  thence  on  a  course  south  eighty-six  degrees  forty-five  and  one- 
fourth  minutes  west,  along  said  southerly  line  of  Buffalo  street,  two  (2) 
chains  and  seventy  (70)  links  to  the  intersection  of  the  same  with  the 
easterly  line  of  Seventh  street;  thence  on  the  same  course  south  eighty- 
six  degrees  forty-five  and  one-fourth  minutes  west,  across  said  Seventh 
street,  one  (1)  chain  and  three-tenths  (.3)  of  a  link  to  the  westerly 
boundary  thereof;  thence  along  said  westerly  boundary  of  Seventh 
street  and  on  a  course  south  three  degrees  forty-nine  and  one-half 
minutes  east,  one  (1)  chain  and  fifty-four  and  seventy-seven  one- 
hundredths  (54.77)  links  to  a  point  in  said  westerly  line  of  Seventh  street, 
distant  seventy-six(76)  links  northerly,  measuring  on  said  westerly  line 
of  Seventh  street,  from  the  intersection  of  the  same  with  the  northerly 


86  The  Niagara  River 

Prospect  Park  were  wet  and  the  trees  shook  their  water 
freely  in  the  light  breeze,  but  some  thousands  collected 
on  the  grass  around  the  pavilion,  notwithstanding 
these  disheartening  circumstances.  When  President 
Dorsheimer,  however,  began  his  speech  the  sun  smiled 
through  the  clouds,  and  the  day  thereafter  was  perfect 
overhead. 

line  of  River  street;  thence  on  a  course  south  fifty-seven  degrees  forty- 
seven  and  one-fourth  minutes,  west  one  (i)  chain  and  sixteen  (16) 
links  to  a  point  in  the  division  line  between  lands  now  or  formerly 
owned  or  occupied  by  Albert  H.  Porter  and  lands  now  or  form- 
erly owned  or  occupied  by  Mrs.  George  W.  Holley,  which  said  point 
is  distant  northerly  measuring  along  said  division  line  seventy  (70) 
links  from  the  northerly  line  of  River  street;  thence  on  a  course  south 
fifty-six  degrees  fifty-five  and  one-half  minutes  west,  one  (1)  chain  and 
sixteen  (16)  links  to  a  point;  thence  south  fifty-eight  degrees  forty  min- 
utes west,  one  (1)  chain  and  fifteen  (15)  links  to  a  point;  thence  south 
sixty-three  degrees  forty-three  and  one-fourth  minutes  west  one  (1) 
chain  and  eleven  (11)  links  to  a  point;  thence  south  sixty-seven  degrees 
nineteen  and  one-fourth  minutes  west,  one  (1)  chain  and  sixty  (60)  links 
to  a  point  in  the  division  line  between  lands  owned  or  occupied  by  Mrs. 
George  W.  Holley  and  lands  owned  or  occupied  by  Jane  S.  Townsend 
distant  sixty  (60)  links  northerly  measured  on  said  division  line  from  the 
northerly  boundary  of  River  street;  thence  on  a  course  south  seventy-two 
degrees  nineteen  minutes  west,  two  (2)  chains  and  ten  (10)  links  to  a 
point  in  the  division  line  between  lands  owned  or  occupied  by  Jane  S. 
Townsend,  and  lands  owned  or  occupied  by  Josephine  M.  Porter,  dis- 
tant, measuring  on  said  division  line  sixty-four  (64)  links  northerly  from 
the  northerly  boundary  of  River  street;  thence  on  a  course  south  seventy- 
three  degrees  thirty-four  and  one-half  minutes  west,  one  (1)  chain  and 
four  (4)  links  to  a  point;  thence  south  seventy-six  degrees  twenty-eight 
and  one-half  minutes  west,  one  (1)  chain  and  two  (2)  links  to  a  point; 
thence  south  eighty-two  degrees  four  and  three-fourths  minutes  west,  one 
(1)  link  to  a  point,  thence  south  eighty-six  degrees  forty-three  and  one- 
fourth  minutes  west,  one  (1)  chain  to  a  point;  thence  south  eighty-nine 
degrees  fifty-six  minutes  west,  one  (1)  chain  to  a  point ;  thence  north  eighty- 
eight  degrees  forty-three  minutes  west  one  (1)  chain  and  one  (1)  link  to  a 
point  in  the  easterly  boundary  of  Fourth  street,  distant  ninety  (90)  links 
northerly,  measuring  on  said  easterly  boundary  of  Fourth  street,  from  the 
intersection  of  the  same  with  the  northerly  boundary  of  River  street; 
thence  across  said  Fourth  street  and  on  a  course  north  eighty-two  degrees 
thirty-two  and  one-half  minutes  west,  one  (1)  chain  and  one  (1)  link  to 


Path  to  Luna  Island. 


Niagara  Bond  and  Free  87 

The  excursion  trains  began  to  pour  their  passengers 
into  the  village  early.  They  came  from  the  counties 
bordering  on  the  Pennsylvania  line  and  from  the 
northern  and  western  ends  of  the  State  and  from  the 
towns  in  the  Canadian  dominion.  It  is  estimated  that 
at  least  thirty  thousand  strangers  were  unloaded  in  the 
village.  The  visitors  included  country  folk  and  residents 

a  point  in  the  westerly  boundary  of  Fourth  street,  distant  eighty-six  (86) 
links  northerly  measuring  on  said  westerly  boundary  of  Fourth  street; 
from  the  intersection  of  the  same  with  the  northerly  line  of  River  street ; 
thence  on  a  course  north  seventy-eight  degrees  fifty-three  minutes  west, 
two  (2)  chains  and  six  (6)  links  to  a  point  in  the  division  line  between 
lands  owned  or  occupied  by  Peter  A.  Porter,  and  land  owned  or  occupied 
by  S.  M.  Whitney,  which  point  is  distant  seventy  (70)  links  northerly, 
measuring  on  said  division  line,  from  the  northerly  line  of  River  street; 
thence  on  a  course  north  seventy-nine  degrees  seventeen  and  three-fourths 
minutes  west,  one  (1)  chain  and  three  (3)  links  to  a  point;  thence  north 
seventy-six  degrees  eight  minutes  west,  one  (1)  chain  and  four  (4)  links 
to  a  point;  thence  north  seventy-three  degrees  seven  and  one-fourth 
minutes  west,  ninety-five  (95)  links  to  a  point;  thence  north  seventy-one 
degrees  twenty-five  and  one-fourth  minutes  west,  fifty  (50)  links  to  a 
point  in  the  division  line  between  lands  owned  or  occupied  by  S.  M. 
Whitney,  and  lands  owned  or  occupied  by  Albert  H.  Porter  which  point 
is  distant  northerly,  measuring  on  said  division  line,  seventy  (70)  links 
from  the  northerly  line  of  River  street;  thence  on  a  course  north  sixty- 
eight  degrees  thirty-five  and  one-fourth  minutes  west,  sixty-eight  (68) 
links  to  a  point;  thence  north  sixty-three  degrees  thirty-eight  and  one- 
fourth  minutes  west,  ninety-eight  (98)  links  to  a  point;  thence  north 
fifty-three  degrees  fifteen  and  one-fourth  minutes  west,  one  (1)  chain 
and  thirteen  (13)  links  to  a  point  in  the  division  line  between  lands  owned 
or  occupied  by  Albert  H.  Porter  and  lands  owned  or  occupied  by  Jane 
S.  Townsend,  which  point  is  distant  northerly,  measuring  on  said  division 
line,  ninety-two  (92)  links  from  the  northerly  line  of  River  street;  run- 
ning thence  on  a  course  north  forty-eight  degrees  fifty-six  and  one-fourth 
minutes  west,  eighty-nine  (89)  links  to  a  point;  thence  north  fifty  degrees 
one  and  one-half  minutes  west,  one  (1)  chain  and  two  (2)  links  to  a  point; 
thence  north  fifty-five  degrees  two  and  one-half  minutes  west,  one  (1) 
chain  and  one  (1)  link  to  a  point;  thence  north  sixty  degrees  ten  minutes 
west,  fifty  (50)  links  to  a  point  in  the  division  line  between  lands  owned  or 
occupied  by  Jane  S.  Townsend  and  lands  owned  or  occupied  by  the  heirs 
of  Augustus  S.  Porter,  which  point  is  distant  northerly,  measuring  on 
said  division-line,  one  (1)  chain  and  fifty-six  (56)  links  from  the  northerly 


88  The  Niagara  River 

of  the  city,  and  about  two  thousand  militiamen,  prin- 
cipally from  the  Fourth  Division,  although  there  were 
several  organisations  among  them  representing  Cleve- 
land, Detroit,  Utica,  Buffalo,  and  Rochester.  There 
was  a  sprinkling  of  British  redcoats  among  the  gold- 
laced  officers  who  dotted  the  village  streets.  One  of 
the  Canadian  battalions  desired  to  come  over  and  join 

line  of  River  street;  thence  on  a  course  north  sixty  degrees  fifteen  and 
one-half  minutes  west,  fifty  (50)  links  to  a  point;  thence  north  sixty- 
seven  degrees  ten  and  one-half  minutes  west,  ninety-nine  (99)  links  to  a 
point;  thence  north  sixty-eight  degrees  nineteen  and  three-fourths  min- 
utes west,  one  (1)  chain  to  a  point;  thence  north  seventy-one  degrees 
forty-five  and  one-fourth  minutes  west,  one  (1)  chain  to  a  point  distant  one 
(1)  chain  and  twenty-eight  (28)  links,  measuring  on  a  course  north  twenty- 
seven  degrees  east  from  the  northerly  line  of  River  street;  thence  on  a 
course  north  sixty-three  degrees  fifty-five  and  one-half  minutes  west,  one 
(1)  chain  and  eleven  (11)  links  to  a  point;  thence  north  fifty-five  degrees 
one  and  one-fourth  minutes  west,  one  (1)  chain  to  a  point;  thence  north 
fifty-one  degrees  forty-one  and  one-half  minutes  west,  eighty-nine  (89) 
links  to  a  point;  thence  north  forty-seven  degrees  fifty  minutes  west 
eighty-three  (83)  links  to  a  point;  thence  north  forty-five  degrees  forty- 
two  minutes  west,  one  (1)  chain  and  two  (2)  links  to  a  point;  thence  north 
forty-two  degrees  twenty-five  minutes  west,  two  (2)  chains  and  two  (2) 
links  to  a  point;  thence  north  forty-three  degrees  seventeen  and  three- 
fourths  minutes  west,  one  (1)  chain  and  nine  (9)  links  to  a  point  in  the 
easterly  boundary  of  Mill  street,  distant  northerly,  measuring  along 
said  easterly  boundary  of  Mill  street,  twenty  (20)  links  from  the  inter- 
section of  the  same  with  the  northerly  boundary  of  River  street ;  thence 
on  a  course  north  twenty-eight  degrees  nineteen  and  one-fourth  minutes 
east,  and  along  said  easterly  boundary  of  Mill  street,  two  (2)  chains  and 
thirty  (30)  links  to  the  intersection  of  said  easterly  line  of  Mill  street  with 
the  southerly  line  of  Buffalo  street;  thence  on  a  course  north  sixty-two 
degrees  forty-five  minutes  west,  across  said  Mill  street,  one  (1)  chain 
to  the  westerly  boundary  line  thereof,  and  to  the  point  of  intersection 
of  the  westerly  line  of  Mill  street  with  the  southerly  line  of  Buffalo  street; 
thence  on  a  course  north  sixty-one  degrees  thirty-two  minutes  west, 
along  the  southerly  boundary  of  Buffalo  street,  five  (5)  chains  and  thirty- 
two  (32)  links  to  the  point  of  intersection  of  the  southerly  line  of  Buffalo 
street  with  the  easterly  boundary  line  of  the  Mill  slip  (so  called),  which 
point  is  distant  northerly  measuring  on  said  easterly  line  of  the  Mill  slip, 
seventy-one  (71)  links  from  the  intersection  of  the  same  with  the  nortnerly 
line  of  River  street;  thence  on  a  course  north  sixty-one  degrees  thirty-two 


Niagara  Bond  and  Free  89 

in  the  celebration.  The  United  States  authorities 
extended  a  welcome  but  the  Canadian  authorities 
declined  to  allow  their  soldiers  to  cross  the  river.  A 
few  of  the  officers  got  permit  to  come. 

Governor  Hill  and  his  staff  were  met  by  a  committee 
appointed  to  receive  them,  consisting  of  Thomas  V. 
Welch  and  O.  W.  Cutter.     There  were  also  Senators 

minutes  west,  across  said  Mill  slip,  fifty-one  and  forty-two  one-hundredths 
(51.42)  links  to  a  point  in  the  westerly  boundary  line  thereof,  distant 
northerly,  measuring  along  said  westerly  line  of  said  Mill  slip,  seventy- 
five  and  twenty-three  one-hundredths  (75.23)  links  from  the  intersection 
of  the  same  with  the  northerly  line  of  River  street;  thence  along  said 
westerly  boundary  line  of  said  Mill  slip  and  on  a  course  south  fifty-four 
degrees  four  and  three-fourths  minutes  west,  seventy-five  and  twenty- 
three  one-hundredths  (75.23)  links  to  the  intersection  of  said  westerly 
boundary  line  of  said  Mill  slip  with  the  northeasterly  boundary  line  of 
River  street;  thence  on  a  course  north  thirty-three  degrees  ten  minutes 
west,  along  said  north-easterly  boundary  line  of  River  street,  five  (5) 
chains  and  seventy-four  and  two-tenths  (74.2)  links  to  a  point  in  said 
northeasterly  line  of  River  street,  where  the  same  is  intersected  by  the 
southerly  line  of  Bridge  street,  which  point  is  marked  by  a  stone  monu- 
ment erected  at  the  intersection  of  said  lines  of  said  streets;  thence  on  a 
course  north  six  degrees  thirty-six  and  one-fourth  minutes  east,  across 
said  Bridge  street,  one  (1)  chain  and  three  (3)  links  to  the  northerly 
boundary  line  thereof,  and  to  the  point  of  intersection  of  the  northerly 
boundary  line  of  Bridge  street  with  the  northeasterly  line  of  Canal  street; 
thence  on  a  course  north  thirty-seven  degrees  thirty-three  and  one-half 
minutes  west,  and  along  said  northeasterly  boundary  line  of  Canal  street 
four  (4)  chains  and  eighty-seven  (87)  links  to  the  intersection  of  said 
northeasterly  line  of  Canal  street  with  the  southerly  line  of  Falls  street; 
thence  on  a  course  north  thirty-seven  degrees  thirty-six  and  three-fourths 
minutes  west,  one  (1)  chain  and  eighty-two  (82)  links  across  Falls  street 
to  the  northerly  boundary  thereof;  thence  on  a  course  north  thirty-seven 
degrees  thirty-six  and  three-fourths  minutes  west,  and  along  said  north- 
easterly line  of  Canal  street,  one  (1)  chain  and  twenty-two  (22)  links  to  an 
angle  in  said  north-easterly  line  of  Canal  street;  thence  on  a  course  north 
two  degrees  thirty-eight  and  one-fourth  minutes  west,  and  along  the 
easterly  line  of  Canal  street,  ten  (10)  chains  and  one  and  eighty-five  one- 
hundredths  (1.85)  links  to  the  intersection  of  the  easterly  line  of  Canal 
6treet  with  the  southerly  line  of  Niagara  street;  thence  on  a  course  south 
eighty-seven  degrees  fourteen  minutes  west,  across  said  Canal  street,  one 
(1)  chain  and  fifty  and  thirty-four  one-hundredths  (50.34)  links  to  the 


go  The  Niagara  River 

Bowen,  Low,  Lansing,  Ellsworth,  Baker,  Van  Schaick, 
Titus  and  "Tim"  Campbell.  Of  Assemblymen  there 
were  present  Mr.  Hubbell  of  Rochester,  who  fathered 
the  bill  in  the  last  Legislature  which  led  to  the  day's 
ceremonies;  Hon.  Jacob  L.  Miller,  who,  in  1883,  intro- 
duced the  bill  creating  the  Niagara  Park  Commission; 
Hendricks,  Kruse,  McEwen,  Bailey,  Scott,  Raines, 
Haskell,  Dibble,  Connelly,  Major  Haggerty,  General 
Barnum,  Whitmore,  Storm,  Ely,  Secretary  of  the 
Senate  John  W.  Vrooman,  and  Ex-Senators  MacArthur 
and  Loomis. 

westerly  boundary  line  thereof;  thence  on  a  course  south  two  degrees 
fifty-one  minutes  east,  along  said  westerly  boundary  line  of  Canal  street, 
two  (2)  chains  and  sixty-seven  and  twelve  one-hundredths  (67.12)  links  to 
a  point  in  the  westerly  line  of  Canal  street,  supposed  to  be  the  northeasterly 
corner  of  Prospect  Park  (so  called) ;  thence  on  a  course  south  eighty-six 
degrees  nineteen  and  one-half  minutes  west,  along  the  north  boundary 
of  said  Prospect  Park,  one  (1)  chain  and  three  (3)  links  to  an  angle  in  said 
boundary  line ;  thence  on  a  course  north  fifty-two  degrees  eighteen  minutes 
west,  along  said  northerly  boundary  of  said  Prospect  Park,  six  (6)  chains 
and  eighty-five  (S5)  links  to  the  water's  edge  of  the  Niagara  river;  thence 
along  said  line  prolonged  into  said  river,  and  on  a  course  north  fifty-two 
degrees  eighteen  minutes  west,  more  or  less,  to  the  boundary  line  between 
the  United  States  of  America  and  the  Dominion  of  Canada;  thence  along 
said  boundary  line  up  the  middle  of  said  river  to  the  Great  Falls;  thence 
up  the  falls  through  the  point  of  the  Horse  Shoe,  keeping  to  the  west  of 
Iris  or  Goat  island  and  the  group  of  small  islands  at  its  head,  and  following 
the  bends  of  the  river,  and  along  said  boundary  line  to  a  point  at  which 
said  boundary  line  meets,  and  is  intersected  by  the  prolongation  of  the 
line  running  north  three  degrees  forty-nine  and  one-fourth  minutes  west, 
first  above  mentioned;  thence  following  said  line,  and  on  a  course  north 
three  degrees  forty-nine  and  one-fourth  minutes  west,  more  or  less,  to  the 
point  or  place  of  beginning. 

Together  with  all  the  right,  title,  and  interest  of  all  persons  or  corpora- 
tions of,  in,  and  to  the  premises  embraced  within  said  boundary  lines, 
including  all  water-rights,  made-land  (so  called),  debris,  titles,  or  claims 
(if  any)  to  lands  lying  under  the  Niagara  river,  rights  of  riparian  owners, 
easements,  and  appurtenances  of  every  name  and  nature  whatsoever, 
including  all  the  rights  of,  in,  and  to  all  streets,  or  portions  of  streets, 
embraced  and  included  within  said  boundary  lines. 


Niagara  Bond  and  Free  91 


Of  editors  and  other  public  men  well  known  "up 
in  the  State"  there  were  Carroll  E.  Smith  and  W.  H. 
Northrup  of  Syracuse;  S.  Callicott  and  John  A. 
Sleicher  of  Albany;  Willard  S.  Cobb  of  Lockport; 
William  Purcell  of  Rochester;  Congressman  Wads- 
worth;  Ex-Congressmen  Brewer  and  Van  Abram 
and  Solomon  Scheu.  Of  State  officials  were  mentioned 
Civil  Service  Commissioner  Henry  A.  Richmond; 
Professor  Gardner  of  the  old  State  survey;  Secretary 
Carr;  Attorney-General  O'Brien;  Treasurer  Maxwell; 
Engineer  Sweet;  Insurance  Superintendent  John  A. 
McCall;  and  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction 
William  H.  Ruggles.  Letters  of  regret  were  received 
from  Governor-General  Lansdowne  of  Canada,  Samuel 
J.  Tilden,  and  President  Cleveland. 

The  last  admission  fee  to  Prospect  Park  was  collected 
in  the  night  of  July  15,  1885,  and  a  till  full  of  quarters 
was  taken  before  the  gates  were  thrown  open  at  mid- 
night. The  owners  of  Goat  Island  left  their  gates  open 
all  night.  Everything  was  free,  however,  on  the  15th 
and  such  a  company  as  swarmed  over  the  islands  in 
consequence  was  never  seen  before.  They  crowded 
the  walks  and  fringed  the  cliffs  and  shores  at  every 
available  point.  They  recklessly  clambered  down 
to  the  bottom  of  the  Falls  and  clustered  on  the  ledge 
of  rocks  overlooking  the  Horseshoe  and  American 
Falls.  Persons  who  had  lived  all  their  lives  within 
twenty  miles  of  the  Falls  now  beheld  them  for  the 
first  time.  They  brought  their  luncheons,  and  when 
the  sun  came  out  they  picnicked  on  the  greensward. 

The  hurdy-gurdy  shows  which  had  sprung  up  like 
mushrooms  within  twenty-four  hours  all  over  the 
village  were  doing  a  brisk  business.    The  Indian  shops 


92  The  Niagara  River 

also  were  all  open  but  the  other  stores  and  places  of 
business  in  the  village  were  closed  for  the  day.  The 
air  was  rilled  from  morning  till  night  with  the  blare  of 
military  bands,  the  monotonous  sound  of  numberless 
organs,  and  the  shouts  and  cries  of  venders  and  show- 
men. Every  building  in  the  village  was  decorated  with 
1  uniting. 

The  pavilion  in  the  park  was  reserved  for  invited 
guests  and  for  those  who  participated  in  the  ceremonies. 
Near  the  Governor  and  his  staff  sat  the  Commissioners 
of  the  Niagara  Park  Reservation.  Among  the  dis- 
tinguished guests  were  prominent  Canadians  who  took 
a  warm  interest  in  the  project  of  an  International 
Park  at  Niagara.  They  were  Lieutenant-Governor 
Robinson,  Captain  Geddes,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Gowski,  members  of  the  Niagara  Park  Association; 
the  Hon.  0.  S.  Hardy,  Secretary  of  Ontario,  and  the 
Attorney-General  of  that  Province,  the  Hon.  O. 
Mowat. 

The  opening-prayer  was  offered  by  the  Right- 
Reverend  A.  Cleveland  Coxe.  He  was  followed  by 
Erastus  Brooks,  who,  in  a  brief  speech,  introduced 
the  subject  of  the  day's  celebration,  and  concluded 
by  saying  that  no  better  investment  had  ever  been 
made  by  any  State,  corporation,  or  people,  and  added 
that  Lord  Dufferin  had  promised  that  Canada  would 
join  in  establishing  a  free  park  on  their  own  side  of  the 
Falls.  Great  enthusiasm  followed,  and  the  whole 
audience  of  five  thousand  people  then  joined  in  singing 
America.  President  Dorsheimer,  in  behalf  of  the 
Commission,  then  formally  presented  the  Park  to  the 
State  of  New  York.  After  briefly  reciting  what 
the  Commission  had  done  he  said:     "From  this  hour 


tp 

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Niagara  Bond  and  Free  93 


Niagara  is  free.  But  not  free  alone;  it  shall  be  clothed 
with  beauty  again,  and  the  blemishes  which  have  been 
planted  among  these  scenes  will  presently  be  removed. 
As  soon  as  the  forces  of  Nature,  nowhere  more  powerful 
than  at  this  favoured  place,  can  do  the  work,  these 
banks  will  be  covered  with  trees,  these  slopes  made 
verdant,  and  the  Cataract  once  more  clothed  with  the 
charms  which  Nature  gave  it." 

As  he  concluded  the  firing  of  guns  signalled  to  the 
crowds  on  the  islands  and  on  the  Canadian  side  that 
Niagara  was  the  possession  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
and  that  Governor  Hill  was  about  to  accept  the  gift 
in  the  name  of  the  people  of  the  State.  The  Governor 
was  warmly  cheered  when  he  stepped  forward  to 
speak.  He  gave  a  brief  sketch  of  the  history  of  the 
Falls,  and  likewise  alluded  to  the  opening  of  the  Erie 
Canal,  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  the  State's 
magnificent  Capitol  at  Albany  and  the  opening  of  the 
East  River  bridge.  Then  he  accepted  the  Park  with 
some  appropriate  words,  concluding  as  follows:  "The 
preservation  of  Niagara  Park,  the  greatest  of  wonders 
is,  indeed,  a  noble  work.  Its  conception  is  worthy 
the  advanced  thought,  the  grand  liberality,  and  the 
true  spirit  of  the  nineteenth  century." 

After  this  followed  the  singing  of  the  Star  Spangled 
Banner,  the  audience  joining  earnestly  in  the  chorus. 
The  oration  was  delivered  by  that  polished  member  of 
the  New  York  Bar,  Mr.  James  C.  Carter,  giving  a  full 
history  of  the  region.  The  two  Canadian  officials, 
Lieutenant-Governor  Robinson  and  Attorney-General 
Mowat  were  then  introduced,  and  congratulated  the 
State  of  New  York  for  the  enterprise  and  public  spirit 
shown   by  the  people   and   the   public   officers.     The 


94  The  Niagara  River 

exercise  concluded  with  the  Doxology  and  a  bene- 
diction. In  the  afternoon  Governor  Hill  with  Gen- 
erals Jewett  and  Rogers  reviewed  the  militia.  In 
the  evening  fireworks  were  set  off  from  Prospect 
Park,  Goat  Island,  and  the  brink  of  the  Falls  from 
the  Canadian  side.  Earlier  in  the  day  the  Comp- 
troller's check  for  five  hundred  thousand  dollars 
was  received  by  the  Porter  family,  the  Goat  Island 
l'p»])erty  had  been  transferred  to  the  commissioners, 
and  Niagara  was  free. 

There  had  been,  of  course,  strong  objection  on 
the  part  of  the  army  of  landholders  and  monopolists 
who  were  to  be  thrown  out  of  their  "easy  money" 
livelihoods.  Of  this  the  excellent  "leader"  in  the 
New    York    Times   of    July    15th    deals    as    follows: 

It  Avould  be  alike  idle  and  unjust  to  blame  the  people  of  Niag- 
ara Falls  for  this  state  of  mind.  They  have  done  what  the  mem- 
bers of  any  other  community  would  have  done  in  making  the 
most  of  their  neighbourhood  as  a  wonder  of  nature.  Even  the 
obstinate  .  .  .  who  declines  to  be  bought  out,  and  insists  upon 
his  right  to  make  merchandise  out  of  the  river,  is  entitled  to 
respect  for  the  tenacity  with  which  he  proposes  to  resist  the 
acquisition  o'f  his  property  by  the  State  upon  the  ground  that 
the  law  authorising  the  acquisition  is  unconstitutional. 

He  would  very  possibly  be  willing  to  acknowledge  the  right 
of  eminent  domain  if  it  were  proposed  to  take  his  land  for  a 
railroad,  but  the  idea  that  it  shall  be  taken  in  order  that  a  river 
.  .  .  shall  be  kept  for  dudes  to  look  at  undoubtedly  strikes 
him  as  unmixed  foolishness.  However  excusable  this  state  of 
mind  may  have  been,  nobody  who  does  not  own  a  point  of  view 
or  at  least  a  hack  at  Niagara  will  dispute  that  its  consequences 
have  been  deplorable.  Though  Niagara  has  continued  to  be  a 
frequential  resort  it  has  by  no  means  been  as  popular  as  it  would 
have  become  with  the  increasing  facilities  of  travel  and  the 
increasing  advantages  taken  of  them,  if  the  fame  of  the  gross  and 


Niagara  Bond  and  Free  95 

petty  extortions  had  not  been  almost  as  widely  spread  as  the 
fame  of  Niagara  itself.  While  the  local  monopolies  have  deterred 
people  from  visiting  the  Falls,  they  have  nevertheless  been  so 
lucrative  that  the  most  important  of  them  is  reported  upon  the 
authority  of  one  of  its  managers  to  have  returned  a  net  annual 
profit,  of  thirty  thousand  dollars,  and  the  report  is  not  incredi- 
ble, prodigious  as  the  figure  seems  as  a  profit  upon  the  mere 
command  of  a  point  of  view.  This  hedging  about  and  looking 
up  of  a  boon  of  nature  was  perhaps  the  most  objectionable  inci- 
dent of  the  private  shore  of  Niagara.  To  a  tourist  who  goes  to 
Niagara  from  any  other  motive  than  that  of  saying  that  he  had 
been  there  the  importunity  to  which  he  had  been  subjected  at 
every  turn  was  absolutely  destructive  of  the  object  of  his  visit. 
The  prosaic  and  incongruous  surroundings  of  the  cataract 
completed  the  disillusion  which  importunity  and  extortion  were 
calculated  to  produce.  Many  tourists  would  have  been  glad  to 
pay  down,  once  for  all,  as  much  as  their  persecutors  could  have 
reasonably  hoped  to  extract  from  them  for  the  privilege  of 
being  allowed  to  look  without  molestation  upon  the  work  of 
nature  undisfigured  by  the  handiwork  of  man.  "For  many 
years  this  has  been  impossible,  and  for  several  years  it  has  been 
evident  that  it  could  be  made  possible  only  by  the  resumption  on 
the  part  of  the  State,  as  a  trustee  of  its  citizens  and  for  all  man- 
kind, of  the  ownership  and  control  of  the  shore.  This  resump- 
tion will  be  formally  made  to  day.  But  it  was  really  brought 
about  in  the  Legislature  in  the  winter  of  1884,  when  the  full 
force  of  the  opposition  to  the  project  was  brought  out  and 
fairly  defeated.  The  State  of  New  York  has  in  effect  decided 
that  the  preservation  of  a  sublime  work  of  nature  under  con- 
ditions which  will  enable  it  to  affect  men's  minds  most  strongly 
is  an  object  for  which  it  is  worth  while  to  pay  the  money  of  the 
State.  It  is  this  emphatic  decision  which  marks  a  real  advance 
in  civilisation  over  the  state  of  mind  of  the  Gradgrinds  of  the 
last  generation  and  of  the  contemporaneous  wood-pulp  grinder 
that  the  proper  function  of  the  greatest  waterfall  in  the  world 
is  to  turn  mill-wheels  and  produce  pennies  by  being  turned 
into  a  peep  show." 

The  Reservation  forms  a  beautiful  State  Park  with- 


96  The  Niagara  River 

in  the  growing  city  of  Niagara  Falls,  N.  Y.,  which  lies 
just  back  of  it  numbering  now  a  population  of  nearly 
twenty-five  thousand  people.  The  city  is  well  laid 
out,  and  its  promoters  "point  with  pride"  to  the 
advances  made  during  the  last  decade  and  bespeak 
for  "Industrial  Niagara"  a  future  of  great  distinction 
in  the  commercial  world. 

The  first  town  worthy  of  the  name  here  on  the 
American  side  of  the  Falls  was  named  Manchester  by 
Judge  Porter  when  he  settled  here  in  1806,  102  years 
ago,  believing  that  the  site  could  eventually  be  occupied 
by  the  "Manchester  of  America."  Judge  Porter's 
many  inducements  to  promoters  were  not  accepted 
until  about  the  middle  of  last  century  (1853)  when  the 
present  canal  was  begun.  For  many  years  even  this 
improvement  lay  unused;  it  was  not  until  1878  that 
the  present  company  was  organised  and  any  real 
advance  was  made.  Of  the  recent  wonderful  develop- 
ment along  power  lines  at  Niagara  we  treat  in  another 
chapter  under  the  title  of  "Harnessing  Niagara  Falls." 
But  the  supreme  interest  in  these  lines  of  activity 
must  not  let  us  lose  sight  of  the  important  element  of 
local  environment. 

It  is  of  almost  national  interest  that  Niagara  is  so 
centrally  located,  that  within  seven  hundred  miles  of 
this  great  cataract  live  two-thirds  of  the  population 
of  the  United  States  and  Canada.  This  of  itself,  were 
there  no  Niagara  Falls,  would  guarantee  the  growth 
of  the  town  of  Niagara  Falls.  Add  to  this  strategic 
location  the  exceptional  advantages  to  be  found 
here  by  industrial  plants  looking  for  a  home,  and 
also  the  evident  fact  that  Niagara  Falls  is  a  delightful 
spot  in  which  to  reside,  it  is  clear  that  if  a  great  and 


Niagara  Bond  and  Free  97 

beautiful  city  does  not  develop  here  in  the  next 
century  human  prophecy  will  have  missed  its  guess  and 
tons  of  advertising  will  have  been  wasted.  Twenty- 
five  million  dollars  are,  it  is  said,  invested  in  capi- 
tal now  in  the  present  town,  and  the  value  of 
imports  and  exports  in  1906  was  over  two  millions 
and  over  twelve  millions,  respectively.  Fourteen 
railways  here  find  terminals  and  the  town  has  over 
one  hundred  mails  daily.  With  splendid  educational 
advantages,  with  twenty  miles  and  more  of  pavement 
already  laid,  with  a  beautiful  and  efficiently  conducted 
public  library,  with  a  city  water  pumping  plant  capable 
of  handling  twenty  million  gallons  daily,  and  nearly 
forty  miles  of  drains,  with  a  citizenship  active,  patri- 
otic, and  capable,  is  it  any  wonder  that  Niagara  Falls' 
real  estate  agents  and  suburban  resident  promoters  are 
thriving  like  the  old  cabmen  and  side-show  operators 
thrived  in  the  "good  old  days"  of  private  ownership 
along  the  Niagara's  bank? 

There  is  no  discounting  the  advances  this  interest- 
ing little  city  has  made  in  the  past  ten  years  and  more, 
and  there  is  very  little  possibility,  on  the  face  of 
things  of  a  tremendously  accelerated  growth  in  the 
coming  century.  Big  problems  are  here  being  worked 
out;  big  schemes  are  afoot,  big  things  will  happen — 
an  advance  will  come  because  of  the  plain  merit  of  the 
bare  facts  of  the  case  without  unnecessary  induce- 
ment or  overcapitalisation  of  the  advertising  agencies. 
The  world  needs  power  to  do  its  work,  and  until  we 
sit  down  calmly  and  figure  out  a  way  for  the  ocean  tides 
to  do  our  work,  as  ought  in  all  conscience  to  be  the 
case  to-day,  Niagara  Falls  will  hold  out  extraordinary 
inducement  to  all  industrial  promoters  which  cannot 


98  The  Niagara  River 

be  rivalled  in  many  ways  at  any  other  point.  If  only 
the  ends  of  industry  can  be  achieved  without  destroy- 
ing this  great  continental  scenic  wonder!  There  are 
those  who  are  unwilling  to  take  a  single  rainbow  from 
that  ocean  of  rainbows  amidst  the  Falls  to  drive  another 
wheel.  But  there  is  surely  a  sane  middle  ground  to  be 
found  here,  and  it  is  certain  that  brave,  thinking  men 
are  on  the  sure  track  to  find  it. 

Similar  in  geographic  position,  quite  as  much  could 
be  said  for  Niagara  Falls,  Ont.,  as  has  been  said  of  her 
twin  city  on  the  American  shore.  In  point  of  beauty 
nothing  can  excel  the  magnificent  Queen  Victoria 
Park,  opened  in  1888,  which  lies  opposite  the  New  York 
State  Reservation;  the  view  of  the  two  falls  from  it, 
or  from  the  airy  piazzas  of  the  superb  Clifton  Hotel 
which  flanks  it,  is  unmatched.  At  present  writing  the 
guardians  of  the  New  York  State  Reservation,  and 
other  sensitive  persons,  are  justly  exercised  over  a 
genuine  "Yankee  trick,"  more  or  less  connived  in, 
they  darkly  hint,  by  the  authorities,  who  have  per- 
mitted a  series  of  hideous  signboards  to  be  erected  on 
the  Canadian  shore  to  serve  the  purpose  of  bringing 
out  more  vividly  by  contrast  the  unrivalled  beauties 
of   Queen   Victoria   Park. 


Chapter  V 
Harnessing  Niagara  Falls 

LORD  KELVIN,  when  visiting  Niagara  Falls, 
was  not  moved  by  that  which  appeals  to 
the  ordinary  tourist,  the  roaring  of  the  cata- 
ract, the  waters  in  their  mad  rush  from  the 
Falls  to  the  whirlpool  and  thence  to  Lake  Ontario, 
nor  the  mists  rising  night  and  day  from  the  waters 
churned  into  foam.  For  him,  Niagara  was  a  monster 
piece  of  machinery,  accomplishing  nothing  but  the 
pounding  out  of  its  own  life  on  the  rocks  which  formed 
its  bed.  In  his  mind's  eye  there  appeared  vast  factories, 
deriving  their  power  from  the  Falls,  furnishing  hundreds 
of  men  employment  and  distributing  millions  of  dollars' 
worth  of  products  to  be  placed  nearer  the  hands  of  the 
poorer  classes  because  of  having  been  created  by  the 
cheap  power  furnished  here  by  nature. 

Various  estimates  have  been  made  regarding  the 
volume  of  water  flowing  over  the  Falls;  but  the  cal- 
culations by  United  States  engineers  extending  over  a 
number  of  years  places  the  amount  at  about  224,000  gal- 
lons a  foot  per  second.  These  are  the  figures  taken  as 
the  basis  of  many  calculations;  upon  this  basis  the  Falls 
would  furnish  3,800,000  horse-power  exclusive  of  the 
rapids.  If  the  fall  of  about  fifty  feet  which  is  produced 
by  the  rapids  in  their  descent  from  the  Dufferin  Islands 
be  added  to  this  amount,  the  sum  total  of  power  would 

99 


ioo  The  Niagara  River 

be  greatly  increased.  To  make  some  use  of  this  almost 
inconceivable  amount  of  power  which  has  been  wasting 
itself  for  ages  has  been  the  problem  which  has  caused 
much  investigation  and  to-day  it  seems  to  be  nearing  a 
practical  solution. 

Niagara  Falls  were  first  used  as  a  source  of  power 
in  1725,  when  a  primitive  saw-mill  was  built  just 
opposite  Goat  Island  to  saw  lumber  for  the  construction 
of  Fort  Niagara.  For  years  men  have  made  many 
attempts  to  use  some  of  the  power  to  be  had  here  for  the 
taking,  and  in  a  very  small  way  have  been  successful. 
A  number  of  establishments  for  several  decades  have 
been  making  use  of  power  developed  by  the  Falls 
by  means  of  the  Hydraulic  Canal  on  the  American 
side.  This  canal  was  begun  in  1853  and  passes  through 
the  city  of  Niagara  Falls,  terminating  on  the  cliff  half 
a  mile  below  the  cataract ;  here  are  to  be  found  a  num- 
ber of  mills,  which  however  utilise  only  a  small  fraction 
of  the  fall  available,  probably  because  at  the  time  of 
their  construction,  the  high  grade  water-wheels  of 
to-day  were  not  in  existence.  Some  of  the  waste 
water  from  the  tail  races  of  these  mills  is  now  being 
collected  into  large  iron-tubes  and  is  used  again  by 
mills  situated  at  the  base  of  the  cliff. 

In  1885,  the  late  Thomas  Evershed,  of  Rochester, 
New  York,  devised  a  plan  for  wheel-pits  a  mile  and  a 
half  above  the  Falls.  The  water  was  to  be  conducted  to 
these  pits  by  lateral  canals,  from  which  it  was  to  be  tak- 
en to  the  river  below  the  Falls  by  means  of  a  tunnel  cut 
through  the  solid  rock.  This  plan  seemed  more  practi- 
cable than  any  proposed  heretofore,  and  commanded 
the  attention  of  many  leading  engineers  of  the  country. 
The  present  great  developments  at  the  Falls   had  their 


Harnessing  Niagara  Falls  101 

inception  in  the  organisation  of  the  Niagara  Falls 
Power  Company.  This  company  obtained  a  charter 
from  the  State  of  New  York  in  1886,  giving  them  per- 
mission to  use  water  sufficient  to  generate  two  hundred 
thousand  horse-power.  This  company  could  accom- 
plish very  little  on  account  of  its  limited  capital.  In  a 
short  time,  however,  New  York  capitalists  and  bankers, 
perceiving  the  practicability  of  the  company's  plans, 
became  interested  in  the  project,  and  furnished  the 
necessary  funds.  The  first  earth  was  turned  for  this 
great  work  in  October  1890  and  the  tunnel  was  com- 
pleted in  the  autumn  of  1893.  The  first  main  wheel- 
pit  was  ready  for  its  machinery  by  the  following  March. 
The  device  for  applying  Niagara's  power  to  the 
turbines  is  on  the  same  principle  of  construction, 
in  each  of  the  recently  erected  plants  as  in  this  first 
one.  In  the  case  of  the  Niagara  Falls  Power  Company, 
a  broad  deep  inlet  leads  from  the  river  at  a  point  a 
mile  and  a  half  above  the  American  Falls,  two  thou- 
sand feet  back  in  a  north-easterly  direction.  The  canal 
is  protected  by  a  lining  of  heavy  masonry,  which  is 
pierced  at  its  upper  end  by  a  number  of  gateways; 
through  these  water  is  admitted  by  short  canals  to 
pits  emptying  into  huge  steel  pipes  or  penstocks,  as 
they  are  called.  These  penstocks  terminate  at  the 
bottom  in  wheel  boxes,  in  which  are  placed  the  bronze 
turbine  wheels,  connected  with  the  surface  by  means 
of  steel  shafts  parallel  to  the  penstocks.  From  the 
turbine  wheels  the  water  whirls  and  rushes  on  through 
a  subterranean  passage  to  the  main  tunnel.  Here  it 
starts  on  its  long  journey  of  over  a  mile  under-ground, 
beneath  the  heart  of  the  city,  until  it  emerges  again 
at  an  opening  in  the  cliff  just  below  what  is  known  as 


102  The  Niagara  River 

the  new  suspension  bridge.  A  very  ingenious  plan  was 
adopted  for  the  application  of  the  power  to  the  turbines. 
The  penstocks  are  brought  down  under  the  wheels  and 
are  made  to  discharge  their  waters  upward  into  the 
boxes.  This  contrivance  causes  the  water  to  bear  up 
the  great  weight  of  the  wheels,  from  the  bearings  be- 
neath for  their  support,  besides  that  of  the  hundred 
and  forty  feet  of  shafting  connected  with  the  turbines 
for  transmitting  power  to  the  surface. 

The  tunnel  which  receives  these  waters  after  leaving 
the  turbines  is  no  less  than  six  thousand  seven  hundred 
feet  long,  and  discharges  below  the  Falls  just  past  the 
suspension  bridge.  Its  cross-section  somewhat  re- 
sembles a  horseshoe  in  shape,  and  this  sectional  area 
is  three  hundred  and  eighty-six  square  feet  throughout, 
the  average  height  and  width  being  twenty-one  and 
sixteen  feet  respectively.  The  company  owning  the 
mills  connected  with  this  tunnel,  together  with  the 
Niagara  Falls  Hydraulic  Power  and  Manufacturing 
Company,  of  which  mention  has  been  made,  are  the 
only  ones  using  water  to  any  great  extent  on  the 
American  side. 

On  the  Canadian  side,  three  great  canals  are  drawing 
water  from  the  river.  It  is  the  construction  of  these 
mammoth  Canadian  power  plants,  and  the  devising 
of  means  for  leading  water  to  the  turbines  together 
with  the  development  of  a  plan  for  the  disposal  of  the 
waste  water  by  means  of  some  form  of  tail  race,  which 
must  necessarily  consist  of  a  monster  tunnel  broken 
through  the  solid  rock,  which  has  developed  some  of 
the  greatest  and  most  unique  engineering  problems 
ever  before  dreamed  of,  and  which  has  presented  a 
work  hazardous  and  spectacular  in  the  extreme. 


Harnessing  Niagara  Falls  103 

To  meet  the  engineering  problems  concerned  in 
locating  the  three  Canadian  plants  along  the  shore  of 
the  river,  involving  the  taking  of  water  by  some  form 
of  canal,  and  the  disposal  of  waste  water  through 
tunnel  or  by  other  means  to  the  lower  river,  each 
without  interfering  with  any  of  the  other  plants,  taxed 
even  Yankee  engineering  ingenuity.  One  company 
had  to  unwater  a  considerable  area  of  Niagara  River 
at  Tempest  Point  where  the  waters  have  a  great  depth 
and  the  current  is  of  high  velocity.  From  here  then 
a  tunnel,  the  largest  in  the  world,  must  be  broken 
through  solid  rock,  under  the  bed  of  the  river,  to  a 
point  directly  behind  the  great  sheet  of  water  plunging 
over  the  apex  of  the  V  formed  by  Horseshoe  Falls.  A 
second  company  takes  its  water  through  a  short  canal 
to  its  wheel-pits,  which  are  sunk  about  half  a  mile  above 
Horseshoe  Falls  in  Queen  Victoria  Park,  discharging 
it  through  a  tunnel  two  thousand  feet  long  into  the 
lower  river.  To  find  room  for  the  third  of  these  com- 
panies was  a  puzzling  problem  for  some  time.  Finally 
the  difficulty  was  solved  by  a  departure  from  the 
plan  of  the  other  companies,  both  in  the  manner  of 
taking  water  from  the  river  and  in  the  location  of  the 
power-house.  Instead  of  locating  the  wheel-pits  above 
the  Falls  as  in  the  case  of  the  others,  this  company  has 
it  power-house  located  in  the  Gorge  below  the  Falls 
along  the  lower  level.  It  takes  its  water  from  farther 
up  the  river  than  any  of  the  companies,  thus  being 
further  removed  from  any  difficulties  arising  from 
recession  of  the  Falls  besides  obtaining  the  additional 
power  to  be  given  by  the  descent  of  the  rapids  to  the 
crest  of  the  cliff,  which  amounts  to  about  fifty  feet.  The 
water  is  taken  from  near  the  DufTerin  Islands  through 


104  The  Niagara  River 

the  largest  steel  conduit  in  the  world,  which  runs  not 
far  from  the  shore  of  the  river,  skirting  the  other  plants, 
and  terminates  at  the  power-house  situated  in  the 
canyon  below  the  Falls. 

It  is  interesting  to  visit  and  survey  these  hydro- 
electric power-generating  stations,  to  note  the  different 
methods  for  taking  the  water  from  the  river  and  for 
carrying  it  to  the  lower  river  after  having  passed  through 
turbine  wheels.  It  is  well  here  to  take  a  brief  resume  of 
the  main  features  connected  with  the  obtaining  of  this 
water  supply  and  its  disposal.  The  first  American 
company,  that  of  the  Niagara  Falls  Hydraulic  Power 
and  Manufacturing  Company,  takes  its  water  through 
a  canal  from  the  upper  river.  This  canal  passes  through 
the  centre  of  the  city  of  Niagara  Falls  to  the  cliff  just 
below  the  first  steel  cantilever  bridge,  the  power  plant 
and  industries  making  use  of  its  waters  are  located  here 
at  the  top  of  the  cliff.  The  other  American  company 
known  as  the  Niagara  Falls  Power  Company  takes 
its  water  by  a  short  canal,  about  a  mile  above  the 
Falls  and  discharges  the  dead  water  through  a  tunnel 
that  runs  under  the  city  of  Niagara  Falls  to  a  point  near 
the  water's  edge  in  the  lower  river  directly  below  the 
first  steel  bridge.  The  Canadian  Niagara  Falls  Power 
Company,  allied  with  the  American  company,  takes 
its  water  from  Queen  Victoria  Park  and  discharges 
it  below  the  Falls  through  a  two  thousand  foot  tunnel. 
The  Toronto  and  Niagara  Power  Company,  with  its 
power  plant  built  in  the  bed  of  the  river  near  Tempest 
Point  takes  water  through  massive  stone  forebays  in 
the  river  and  sends  it  to  the  lower  level  through  a 
tunnel  beneath  the  river's  bed  opening  directly  behind 
the  V  in  the  Horseshoe  Falls.     The  Ontario  Power 


Harnessing  Niagara  Falls  105 

Company  takes  its  water  into  large  steel  conduits  near 
Dufferin  Islands.  These  underground  pipes  conduct 
the  water  along  the  shore  of  the  river  to  the  power 
house  situated  on  the  lower  level.  The  waste  water  is 
discharged  through  draft  tubes  directly  into  the  rivej"^ 

With  this  general  picture  of  these  great  power 
companies  in  mind,  it  is  proper  to  survey  some  of  the 
more  interesting  details  of  construction  which  may 
appeal  to  individual  taste  and  curiosity.  Space  forbids 
entering  into  the  minutia  either  of  construction  or 
machinery  used.  Only  the  main  principles  of  interest 
to  the  general  reader  can  be  touched  upon. 

Let  us  descend  first  into  the  tunnel  under  the  bed  of 
the  river,  which  discharges  the  tail  water  from  the 
power-house  of  the  Toronto  Company,  hurling  it  with 
almost  inconceivable  fury  against  the  mass  of  foaming 
water  plunging  over  the  Horseshoe  precipice.  Here 
is  a  sight  to  thrill  even  the  most  jaded  traveller  hunting 
for  new  wonders.  A  trip  through  this  underground 
passage  which  American  genius  has  shot  through  a 
mass  of  solid  shale  and  limestone,  beneath  the  bed  of  the 
river,  will  in  itself  more  than  compensate  for  a  trip 
to  Niagara  Falls.  Some  idea  of  the  size  of  this  tunnel 
is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  two  lines  of  railways  were 
maintained  in  it  to  dispose  of  the  rock  and  shale 
excavated  by  the  workmen.  Clad  in  rubber  coat 
and  boots  the  visitor  to  the  Falls  may  wend  his  way 
down  along  the  visitors'  gallery  which  is  suspended  from 
the  roof  of  the  tunnel,  one  hundred  and  fifty-eight  feet 
below  the  river  bed,  to  where  the  outrushing  waters 
join  the  great  volume  of  the  river  in  its  headlong 
plunge  over  Horseshoe  Falls.  Here  standing  behind 
that   mighty   veil   of   rushing  water,   with  the  spray 


io6  The  Niagara  River 


&■ 


swept  into  the  opening  by  furious  storms  of  howling 
winds,  one  beholds  a  spectacle,  almost  terrifying  in  its 
grandeur,  the  equal  of  which  perhaps  can  not  be  found 
in  any  of  the  numerous  attractions  of  the  Falls.  "}— 

Before  work  on  the  main  tunnel  was  begun,  a 
shaft  was  sunk  on  the  river  bank  just  opposite  the 
crest  of  Horseshoe  Falls.  From  this  shaft  a  tunnel 
was  dug  to  the  point  where  the  lower  end  of  the  main 
tunnel  would  terminate.  No  difficulties  were  experi- 
enced in  the  driving  of  this  opening  until  near  the  face 
of  the  cliff  behind  Horseshoe  Falls.  Here,  with  only 
fifteen  feet  to  go,  water  began  to  rush  into  the  cavern 
through  a  fissure  in  the  rocks.  The  engineers  fought 
against  the  water  for  several  days  but  could  not  stop 
its  flow.  Finally  eighteen  holes  were  drilled  into  the 
cliff  between  the  end  of  the  tunnel  and  where  the 
final  opening  was  to  be  made ;  these  holes  were  loaded 
with  dynamite,  which,  together  with  a  large  charge 
placed  against  the  end  of  the  passage,  was  exploded, 
after  the  tunnel  had  been  flooded.  This  only  accom- 
plished a  part  of  what  was  desired.  An  opening  was 
made  in  the  cliff  but  too  near  the  roof  of  the  tunnel 
to  allow  of  any  work.  What  to  do  now  was  a  difficult 
problem,  but  American  daring  accomplished  the  work. 
Volunteers  were  called  for  to  crawl  along  the  ledge 
of  rock  running  along  the  cliff  behind  the  Falls  to  where 
the  opening  had  been  made.  Several  men  offered  to 
make  this  almost  impossible  trip.  Lashed  together 
with  cords,  with  the  thunder  of  the  Falls  in  their  ears, 
blinded  by  spray  which  was  driven  into  their  faces  with 
cyclonic  fury,  the  men  at  last  reached  the  opening 
and  placed  a  heavy  charge  of  dynamite  against  the 
opposing  wall.     This  was  discharged,  making  a  suffi- 


Harnessing  Niagara  Falls  107 

ciently  large  opening  for  the  water  to  run  out,  and  the 
work  was  continued. 

In  the  design  of  the  main  tunnel,  ingenious  provision 
was  made  for  recession  of  the  Falls.  From  the  opening 
in  the  cliff  for  three  hundred  feet  the  lining  will  be  put 
in  in  rings  six  feet  long;  this  arrangement  will  allow 
a  joint  to  drop  out  whenever  the  Falls  recede  so  that 
it  is  exposed,  thus  leaving  a  smooth  section  always 
at  the  end  of  the  tunnel.  Through  this  main  tunnel 
and  through  the  branch  races,  the  water,  after  having 
left  the  turbines,  will  whirl  along  at  the  rate  of  twenty- 
six  feet  per  second,  having  generated  a  total  of  125,000 
electric  horse-power.  In  engineering  problems  connected 
with  the  tunnel  and  the  construction  of  the  plant,  the 
work  of  this  company  far  surpasses  that  of  any  of 
the  others.  In  order  to  secure  a  place  for  the  wheel-pit 
and  gathering  dam,  an  area  of  about  twelve  acres  in  the 
bed  of  the  river  was  converted  into  dry  land.  To  do 
this  a  coffer  dam  was  constructed  2153  feet  in  length 
and  from  twenty  feet  to  forty-six  feet  wide  in  water 
varying  in  depth  from  seven  feet  to  twenty-four  feet, 
besides  being  very  swift  in  most  places.  About  two 
thousand  feet  above  the  Falls,  in  the  space  thus  de- 
prived of  its  water,  an  immense  wheel-pit  was  sunk 
into  the  solid  rock.  On  the  bottom  of  this  pit,  150 
feet  below  the  surface  rest  the  monster  turbines,  from 
which  two  tail-races  conduct  the  water  to  the  main 
tunnel.  A  large  gathering  dam  sufficient  to  supply  the 
maximum  capacity  of  this  plant  runs  obliquely  across 
the  river  for  a  distance  of  750  feet.  The  height  of  this 
dam  varies  from  ten  to  twenty-three  feet;  it  is  con- 
structed of  concrete,  the  top  being  protected  by  a 
course  of  cut  granite.    The  power  plant  is  located  on  the 


10S  The  Niagara  River 

original  shore  line  and  parallel  to  it  in  Queen  Victoria 
Park.  In  the  power  room  are  to  be  found  eleven 
monster  generators  capable  of  developing  12,500  horse- 
power each. 

A  short  distance  farther  up  the  river  at  the  DufTerin 
Islands  is  the  beginning  of  the  mammoth  steel  conduits 
of  the  Ontario  Power  Company.  These  pass  about  a 
hundred  yards  from  the  shore  and  conduct  the  water 
to  the  power-house  situated  in  the  canyon  below  the 
Falls.  This  contrivance  for  water  transmission  con- 
sists of  three  steel  pipes,  the  largest  in  the  world, 
eighteen  feet  in  diameter,  and  a  little  over  six  thousand 
feet  long.  This  plant  has  the  advantage  of  the  others 
in  several  respects.  While  it  draws  its  water  from 
farther  up  the  river,  it  preserves  it  for  a  longer  time 
from  the  recession  of  the  Falls,  besides  securing  to  it 
the  greater  amount  of  power  per  volume  by  obtaining 
the  additional  advantage  of  the  descent  of  the  rapids 
which  amounts  to  about  fifty-five  feet.  The  power 
plant  located  as  it  is  in  the  Gorge  discharges  its  waste 
waters  directly  into  the  lower  river  without  the  neces- 
sity of  an  intervening  tunnel.  Lastly,  the  plan  of 
applying  the  power  to  the  turbines  is  slightly  different 
in  this  case  from  the  others,  being  made  possible  by 
its  different  plan.  Here  the  turbines  are  placed 
vertical  instead  of  horizontal,  and  are  directly  con- 
nected with  the  main  generators,  which  are  the  only 
machines  located  on  the  floor  of  the  station. 

A  departure  from  the  ordinary  construction  of  the 
dynamo  is  noticed  in  those  for  use  at  Niagara.  The 
ordinary  one  is  built  with  the  field-magnets  so  placed 
that  the  armature  revolves  between  them,  the  field- 
magnets  being  stationary.    In  these  monster  dynamos, 


American  Falls  from  Below. 


Harnessing  Niagara  Falls  109 

developing  thousands  of  horse-power,  and  weighing 
many  tons,  the  field -magnets  revolve  around  the 
armature  which  remains  stationary.  With  such  an 
enormous  weight  of  swiftly  revolving  parts,  it  became 
necessary  to  lessen  the  immense  centrifugal  force 
tending  to  tear  the  machine  to  pieces.  Engineering 
skill  surmounted  this  problem  as  it  did  all  others  in 
what  might  be  called  this  mighty  scientific  drama, 
and,  by  reversing  the  parts  of  the  dynamo,  secured  the 
desired  result.  The  field-magnets,  being  placed  on  the 
outside  and  being  made  the  revolving  part,  by  their 
mutual  attraction  for  its  armature  within  their  ring 
are  pulled,  as  it  were,  toward  the  centre,  thus  lessening 
the  great  strain  produced  by  the  centrifugal  force  upon 
the  large  steel  ring  upon  whose  inner  circumference 
they  are  mounted. 

The  currents  furnished  by  the  power-houses  at 
Niagara  are  all  alternating.  This  kind  of  current  being 
decided  upon  for  various  reasons.  It  can  be  used  for 
driving  dynamos  as  well  as  any,  and  as  nearly  all  the 
power  developed  at  the  Falls  is  used  in  this  way  no 
provision  is  made  for  a  direct  current.  Where  a  direct 
current  is  desired  the  electricity  is  made  to  drive  a 
dynamo  of  the  alternating  type  which  in  turn  is  made 
to  drive  another  of  the  kind  of  current  desired.  Es- 
tablishments on  or  near  the  grounds  use  the  power 
furnished  them  direct  from  the  power-house.  When  the 
power  must  be  transmitted  to  a  distance,  it  becomes 
necessary  to  use  a  step-up  transformer  for  the  purpose 
of  losing  as  little  power  as  necessary  in  the  transmis- 
sion, this  to  produce  a  higher  voltage.  When  the 
current  reaches  those  places  where  it  is  to  be  used  a  low 
voltage  is  again  obtained  by  the  step-down  transformer. 


no  The  Niagara  River 

Almost,  if  not  quite  as  interesting  as  the  develop- 
ment of  all  this  power,  together  with  its  transmission, 
are  the  manufacturing  establishments  springing  up  here 
to  take  advantage  of  the  great  opportunities  offered 
by  the  harnessing  of  this  mighty  cataract.  Among 
those  which  stretch  along  the  river  for  several  miles 
are  to  be  found  those  interested  in  the  manufacture 
of  carborundum,  aluminum,  carbide,  graphite,  caustic 
potash,  muriatic  acid,  emery  wheels,  railway  supplies, 
hook-and-eye  fastenings,  and  shredded  wheat,  which 
are  of  special  interest  to  the  visitor. 

Industrialism  has  seized  upon  the  immense  power 
of  Niagara  and  is  now  shaping  it  into  commodities  for 
the  use  of  man.  Now  what  is  the  real  menace  to  the 
Falls?  Many  lament  the  erection  of  the  power  plants 
and  manufacturing  establishments  in  the  vicinity; 
but  those,  at  least  already  in  existence,  have  come  to 
stay.  So  we  may  turn  our  attention  from  the  marring 
of  the  surrounding  beauty  to  the  Falls  themselves. 

Geological  changes  are  taking  place  so  slowly  that 
they  need  not  be  reckoned  with  as  a  probable  destroyer 
of  the  Falls  for  ages  yet  to  come.  Moreover,  their 
effect  is  treated  in  another  chapter.  The  history  of 
the  Niagara  Falls  Hydraulic  Power  and  Manufacturing 
Company,  as  a  user  of  power  from  the  Falls,  antedates 
even  its  legislative  recognition.  Between  the  years  of 
1888  and  1894  nine  companies  were  recognised  or  char- 
tered in  the  State  of  New  York.  These  charters  were 
granted  very  freely,  no  revenue  was  required  for 
the  use  of  the  waters,  and  in  some  cases  no  limita- 
tion was  placed  upon  the  amount  to  be  used.  Of  these 
charters,  all  were  granted  in  good  faith;  but  it  is  very 
doubtful  if  all  were  received  in  that  spirit.     Some  of 


Harnessing  Niagara  Falls  m 

the  companies  failed  to  effect  an  organisation,  others 
offered  to  sell  their  rights  as  soon  as  obtained.  Various 
limitations  were  put  upon  the  time  in  which  work  must 
be  begun.  At  least  three  of  the  charters  have  lapsed 
by  their  own  time  limitations,  one  franchise  was 
sold  by  its  original  owners;  one  other  shows  at  times 
faint  signs  of  life;  another  is  leading  a  questionable 
existence,  while  two,  the  Hydraulic  Power  and  Manu- 
facturing Company  and  the  Niagara  Falls  Power 
Company,  are  producing  and  selling  power.  To  these 
two  organisations  are  to  be  credited  the  great  indus- 
trial development  on  the  American  side  and  they  are 
not  yet  using  the  amount  of  water  allowed  them  by 
their  charters. 

As  a  result,  of  course,  the  flow  of  water  is  of  smaller 
volume;  but  this  cannot  be  perceived  by  the  casual 
observer.  However,  citizens  of  Niagara  Falls  insist 
that  the  decreased  flow  is  manifested  in  other 
ways;  such  as  the  annual  gorging  of  ice  at  the 
head  of  the  American  channel  almost  laying  this 
channel  bare  and  sending  its  water  to  the  Cana- 
dian side.  This  happens  very  rarely  with  a  normal 
depth.  Besides  this  it  became  necessary  not  long  ago 
to  move  the  dock  at  which  the  Maid  of  the  Mist 
lands,  the  water  line  having  retreated  as  a  result  of 
decreased  volume. 

The  two  American  companies  are  not  expecting  to 
diminish  their  consumption  of  water  in  any  way.  The 
growing  demands  for  power  have  caused  each  contin- 
ually to  enlarge  its  plants.  The  Niagara  Falls  Power 
Company,  realising  the  great  growing  demand  for 
cheap  power,  has  obtained  a  large  interest  in  one  of 
the  Canadian  companies.    The  amount  of  water  which 


ii2  The  Niagara  River 


&• 


may  be  used  by  these  companies  according  to  charter 
limits  is  as  follows: 

Niagara  Falls  Hydraulic  Power  and  Manu- 
facturing Co 7,700  cu.  ft.  per  sec. 

Niagara  Falls  Power  Company 8,600    "     "     "     " 

Total 16,300    "     "     "     " 

The  power  produced  by  these  companies  at  present 
is  no  fair  estimate  of  the  amount  of  water  taken  from 
the  river.  On  the  American  side,  below  the  steel  arch 
bridge,  may  be  seen  what  is  called  the  "back  yard  view 
of  Niagara."  Here  a  number  of  small  cascades  are 
seen  spouting  from  the  side  of  the  cliff,  only  a  small 
part  of  the  fall  being  utilised  by  the  factories  situated 
there.  Some  of  this  water  is  now  being  collected  into 
penstocks,  to  be  utilised  again  at  the  base  of  the  cliff. 

On  turning  to  the  three  Canadian  companies,  those 
of  the  American  side  pale  beside  their  gigantic  propor- 
tions. In  contrast  with  the  companies  chartered,  it 
may  be  said  that  none  of  these  is  inactive;  on  the 
contrary  they  are  giving  the  strongest  manifestations 
of  energy.  Following  are  the  limits  to  which  they 
may  make  use  of  Niagara's  waters: 

Canadian  Niagara  Power  Co 8,900  cu.  ft.  per  sec. 

Ontario  Power  Co 12,000 

Toronto  and  Niagara  Power  Co 11,200    "  "      "     " 

Total 32,100 

Adding  to  this  total  the  charter  limits  of  the  two  Amer- 
ican companies  now  operating,  the  grand  total  is  raised 
to  48,400  cubic  feet  per  second.  This  of  itself  is  a  dry 
fact  and  does  not  form  much  of  a  percentage  of  the 


Harnessing  Niagara  Falls  113 

whole  volume  going  over  the  Falls.  Such  a  loss  would 
not  mean  so  much  if  it  would  manifest  itself  the  same 
along  the  whole  crest  of  the  line  of  the  cliff;  but  here 
must  be  taken  into  consideration  the  configuration 
of  the  bed  of  the  river. 

The  bed  of  Niagara  is  composed  of  rock  which  dips 
gradually  and  uniformly  westward.  The  ledge  is  ten 
feet  higher  on  the  American  side  than  on  the  Canadian. 
The  water  of  the  American  fall  is  therefore  ten  feet 
shallower.  The  amount  of  water  going  over  the  Falls 
has  been  variously  estimated,  engineers  differing  in 
their  conclusions  as  much  as  sixty  thousand  cubic  feet 
per  second.  Averages  based  upon  the  estimates  of 
United  States  engineers  for  forty  years,  of  the  amount 
of  mean  flow  of  water  passing  Buffalo  from  Lake  Erie, 
shows  222,400  cubic  feet  per  second.  This  of  course 
does  not  make  allowance  for  that  taken  by  the  Welland 
and  the  Erie  canals.  This  is  probably  about  equalised 
by  the  amount  entering  the  lake  and  river  between 
this  city  and  the  Falls,  so  that  the  figures  forming 
the  basis  of  most  computations  are  224,000  cubic  feet 
per  second.  The  amount  of  power  capable  of  develop- 
ment by  the  Falls  is  about  3,800,000  horse-power, 
which  would  be  greatly  increased  by  adding  the  fall 
from  the  beginning  of  the  rapids  to  the  crest  of  the  cat- 
aract. Goat  Island,  situated  just  off  the  American 
shore,  divides  the  waters  very  unevenly,  sending  more 
than  three-fourths  the  volume  toward  the  Canadian 
shore.  Now,  as  has  been  seen,  less  than  one-fourth 
the  whole  volume  pours  down  the  American  channel; 
and  as  this  is  much  shallower  than  the  main  bodv  of 
water,  it  is  here  that  any  diminished  flow  will  be  first 
felt.     At  the  head  of  the  island  the  great  body  of  the 


ii4  The  Niagara  River 

current  turns  toward  the  west,  by  far  the  larger  amount 
converging  into  the  funnel  of  the  magnificent  Horseshoe 
Falls.  The  American  channel  in  contrast  contains 
a  very  feeble  flow,  and  therefore  would  be  the  first  to 
exhibit  any  dearth  of  water. 

Calculations  based  upon  the  preceding  figures,  tak- 
ing into  consideration  the  length  of  the  Falls,  and  the 
difference  in  elevation  of  the  river's  bed  at  the  crest, 
show  that  when  the  flow  has  been  reduced  by  184,000 
cubic  feet  per  second,  or  by  40,000  cubic  feet,  the  water 
in  the  American  channel  will  be  brought  down  to  the 
rock  bottom  of  the  shore's  edge.  Then,  although  the 
Horseshoe  Falls  will  continue  to  be  an  object  of  ad- 
miration to  the  traveller,  and  although  the  current  will 
continue  to  sweep  through  the  American  channel  and 
over  the  American  Falls,  the  beauty  and  grandeur  of 
the  latter  will  fade  away.  Let  the  amount  of  water 
abstracted  from  the  river  be  doubled,  and,  though 
the  Canadian  Falls  would  still  continue  an  object  of 
admiration,  the  American  channel  would  be  entirely  dry. 

Returning  to  the  present  and  immediately  contem- 
plated draft  upon  the  river's  waters,  we  find  that  the 
two  American  and  the  three  Canadian  companies,  when 
using  their  charter  limits,  will  take  48,000  cubic  feet 
per  second.  This  will  bring  the  level  at  the  crest  of  the 
Falls  down  to  the  bottom  of  the  river  at  the  American 
shore.  This,  then,  is  the  immediate  prospect.  Many 
things  may  intervene  before  this  point  is  reached.  We 
are  not  permitted  to  stop,  however,  with  the  considera- 
tion of  these  five  companies  alone.  One  of  the  last 
organisations  chartered  by  the  State  of  New  York  to 
obtain  water  from  Niagara  is  the  Niagara  Lockport 
and  Ontario  Power  Company.     In  1894,  this  company 


Harnessing  Niagara  Falls  115 

obtained  a  franchise  placing  no  restriction  upon  the 
amount  of  water  to  be  used,  and  limited  to  ten  years  in 
which  to  begin  work.  In  1904,  they  came  again  to  the 
Legislature,  asking  for  an  improved  charter  in  several 
respects,  especially  a  lengthening  of  time  in  which  to 
begin  operations.  This  company  proposed  to  take 
water  from  near  La  Salle  and  not  to  return  it  to  the 
river  at  all,  but  to  take  it  overland  by  canal  to  Lock- 
port  and  then  empty  it  directly  into  Lake  Ontario. 
The  bill  providing  for  this  charter  passed  both  houses, 
but  it  was  vetoed  by  Governor  Odell.  The  veto  took 
place  on  May  15,  1904.  The  original  charter  was 
granted  on  May  21,  1894.  Six  days  of  grace  yet  re- 
mained of  the  ten  years  allowed  the  company.  There 
is  said  to  be  a  slender,  shallow  ditch  south  of  Lockport, 
which  represents  the  work  done  in  the  six  days  left.  It 
has  been  rumoured  that  the  most  of  this  company's 
stock  has  passed  into  the  hands  of  a  great  corporation. 
Undoubtedly,  under  some  form  of  reorganisation,  there 
will,  in  the  near  future,  be  an  attempt  on  the  part  of 
its  members  to  gain  a  share  of  the  great  free  power  of 
Niagara.  Under  the  old  charter,  which  does  not  limit 
the  amount  of  water  to  be  consumed,  it  will  probably 
not  consume  less  than  the  other  large  companies,  say 
10,000  cubic  feet  per  second. 

But  the  only  danger  to  the  life  of  the  Falls  is  not  to 
be  found  alone  in  the  Niagara  power  companies.  Six 
hundred  miles  to  the  west  is  the  Chicago  Main  Drain- 
age Canal,  which  at  first  took  from  the  Lakes  about 
three  thousand  cubic  feet  per  minute.  Many  proposi- 
tions have  been  made  to  enlarge  this  canal.  These  are 
fraught  with  taxing  engineering  problems;  but  it  is 
difficult  to  say  just  what  the  future  has  in  store  in  this 


n6  The  Niagara  River 

line.  This,  however,  is  not  all;  Canada,  in  the  hope  of 
gaining  part  of  the  commerce  of  the  Great  Lakes  for 
the  St.  Lawrence,  has  proposed  a  canal  by  way  of  Geor- 
gian Bay  and  the  Ottawa  River,  thus  shortening  the 
lake  route  by  five  hundred  miles.  To  these  may  be 
added  propositions  for  a  deep-water  connection  between 
the  Lakes  and  the  Hudson,  between  Lake  Winnipeg 
and  Lake  Superior,  between  Toronto  and  Lake  Huron, 
the  demands  of  Cincinnati  and  Pittsburg  for  canals, 
Wisconsin's  desire  for  a  canal  connecting  the  Lakes 
through  her  territory  with  the  Mississippi,  the  plan 
for  a  canal  from  Duluth  to  the  Mississippi ;  and  one  may 
see  with  what  danger  this  great  natural  wonder  is 
threatened.  Many  of  these  proposed  plans,  doubtless, 
will  never  be  realised;  some  on  account  of  engineering 
difficulties,  others  on  account  of  the  failure  of  their 
projectors  to  count  upon  the  true  relation  between 
cost  of  construction  and  what  would  likely  be  the  rev- 
enue obtained.  All  these  subjects,  however,  must  be 
given  due  consideration  by  one  who  desires  to  know 
what  is  considered  to  be  the  immediate  danger  to  the 
Falls,  or  that  which  may  effect  them  at  no  very  distant 
future  date. 

On  January  18,  1907,  Secretary  of  War  Taft  ren- 
dered a  decision  under  the  Burton  Act  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  Niagara  Falls  on  the  applications  of  American 
companies  for  the  use  of  water  and  of  Canadian  com- 
panies wishing  to  send  electric  power  into  the  United 
States,  and  at  the  same  time  announced  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  commission  to  beautify  the  vicinity  of  the 
Falls.  The  amount  of  water  allowed  to  companies 
in  New  York  is  practically  that  now  used,  and  sub- 
stantially as   limited   by   the  Act    of   Congress  as   a 


Harnessing  Niagara  Falls  117 

maximum.  The  Secretary  found  no  evidence  that 
the  flow  over  the  American  Falls  has  been  in- 
juriously affected  in  recent  years.  The  claims  of  the 
Canadian  companies,  acting  in  conjunction  with  elec- 
tric companies  on  this  side  of  the  river,  had  to  be 
materially  cut  down  to  come  within  the  law  limiting 
the  total  current  to  160,000  horse-power.  The  allot- 
ments in  electric  horse-power  to  be  transmitted  to  the 
United  States  are  as  follows: 

The  International  Railway  Company,  1500. 
(8000  asked). 

The  Ontario  Power  Company,  60,000  (90,000 
asked). 

The  Canadian  Niagara  Falls  Power  Company, 
52,500  (121,500  asked). 

The  Electrical  Development  Company,  46,000 
(62,000  asked). 

All  these  permits  are  revocable  at  pleasure,  and,  in 
the  absence  of  further  legislation  in  Congress,  will 
expire  on  June  29,  1909. 

In  the  course  of  his  decision,  after  discussing  the 
intent  of  the  law,  Mr.  Taft  says: 

Acting  upon  the  same  evidence  which  Congress  had,  and  upon 
the  additional  statement  made  to  me  at  the  hearing  by  Dr. 
John  M.  Clark,  state  geologist  of  New  York,  who  seems  to  have 
been  one  of  those  engaged  from  the  beginning  in  the  whole 
movement  for  the  preservation  of  Niagara  Falls,  and  who  has 
given  close  scientific  attention  to  the  matter,  I  have  reached  the 
conclusion  that  with  the  diversion  of  15,600  cubic  feet  on  the 
American  side  and  the  transmission  of  160,000  horse-power  from 
the  Canadian  side  the  scenic  grandeur  of  the  Falls  will  not  be 
affected  substantially  or  perceptibly  to  the  eye. 

With  respect  to  the  American  Falls,  this  is  an  increase  of 
only  2500  cubic  feet  a  second  over  what  is  now  being  diverted 


n8  The  Niagara  River 

and  has  been  diverted  for  many  years,  and  has  not  affected 
the  Falls  as  a  scenic  wonder. 

With  respect  to  the  Canadian  side,  the  water  is  drawn  from 
the  river  in  such  a  way  as  not  to  affect  the  American  Falls  at  all, 
because  the  point  from  which  it  is  drawn  is  considerably  below 
the  level  of  the  water  at  the  point  where  the  waters  separate 
above  Goat  Island,  and  the  Waterways  Commission  and  Dr. 
Clark  agree  that  the  taking  of  13,000  cubic  feet  from  the  Cana- 
dian side  will  not  in  any  way  affect  or  reduce  the  water  going 
over  the  American  Falls.  The  water  going,  over  the  Falls  on  the 
Canadian  side  of  Goat  Island  is  about  five  times  the  volume  of 
that  which  goes  over  the  American  Falls,  or,  counting  the  total  as 
220,000  cubic  feet  a  second,  the  volume  of  the  Horseshoe  Falls 
would  be  about  180,000  cubic  feet.  If  the  amount  withdrawn 
on  the  Canadian  side  for  Canadian  use  were  5000  cubic  feet 
a  second,  which  it  is  not  likely  to  be  during  the  three  years' 
life  of  these  permits,  the  total  to  be  withdrawn  would  not 
exceed  ten  per  cent,  of  the  volume  of  the  stream,  and,  considering 
the  immense  quantity  which  goes  over  the  Horseshoe  Falls, 
the  diminution  would  not  be  perceptible  to  the  eye. 

Taking  up  first  the  application  for  permits  for  diversion 
on  the  American  side,  there  is  not  room  for  discussion  or  difference. 
The  Niagara  Falls  Power  Company  is  now  using  about  8600 
cubic  feet  of  water  a  second  and  producing  about  76,630  horse- 
power. There  is  some  question  as  to  the  necessity  of  using  some 
water  for  sluicing.  This  must  be  obtained  from  the  8600  cubic 
feet  permitted,  and  the  use  of  the  water  for  other  purposes 
when  sluicing  is  being  done  must  be  diminished.  The  Niagara 
Falls  Hydraulic  Power  and  Manufacturing  Company  is  now 
using  4000  cubic  feet  a  second  and  has  had  under  construction 
for  a  period  long  antedating  the  Burton  Act  a  plant  arranged  to 
divert  2500  cubic  feet  a  second  and  furnish  36,000  horse-power 
to  the  Pittsburg  Reduction  and  Mining  Company.  A  permit  will 
therefore  issue  to  the  Niagara  Falls  Hydraulic  Power  and  Manu- 
facturing Company  for  the  diversion  of  6500  cubic  feet  a 
second,  and  the  same  rule  must  obtain  as  to  sluicing,  as 
already  stated. 

As  the  object  of  the  act   is  to  preserve  the  scenic  beauty 


The  Riverside  at  Willow  Island. 


Harnessing  Niagara  Falls  119 

of  Niagara  Falls,  I  conceive  it  to  be  within  my  power  to  im- 
pose conditions  upon  the  granting  of  these  permits,  compliance 
with  which  will  remedy  the  unsightly  appearance  that  is  given 
the  American  side  of  the  canyon  just  below  the  falls  on  the 
American  side,  where  the  tunnel  of  the  Niagara  Falls  Power 
Company  discharges  and  where  the  works  of  the  hydraulic 
company  are  placed. 

The  representative  of  the  American  Civic  Association  has 
properly  described  the  effect  upon  the  sightseer  of  the  view 
toward  the  side  of  the  canyon  to  be  that  of  looking  into  the  back 
yard  of  a  house  negligently  kept.  For  the  purpose  of  aiding 
me  in  determining  what  ought  to  be  done  to  remove  this  eyesore, 
including  the  appearance  of  the  buildings  at  the  top,  I  shall 
appoint  a  committee  consisting  of  Charles  F.  McKim,  Frank  D. 
Millet,  and  F.  L.  Olmsted  to  advise  me  what  changes,  at  an 
expense  not  out  of  proportion  to  the  extent  of  the  investment, 
can  be  made  which  will  put  the  side  of  the  canyon  at  this  point 
from  bottom  to  top  in  natural  harmony  with  the  Falls  and  the 
other  surroundings,  and  will  conceal,  as  far  as  possible,  the  raw 
commercial  aspect  that  now  offends  the  eye.  This  consideration 
has  been  in  view  in  the  construction  of  works  on  the  Canadian 
side  and  in  the  buildings  of  the  Niagara  Falls  Power  Company, 
above  the  Falls.  There  is  no  reason  why  similar  care  should  not 
be  enforced  here. 

Water  is  being  withdrawn  from  the  Erie  Canal  at  the  lake 
level  for  water-power  purposes,  and  applications  have  been  made 
for  permits  authorising  this.  Not  more  than  four  hundred 
cubic  feet  are  thus  used  in  the  original  draft  of  water  that  is  not 
returned  to  the  canal  in  such  a  way  as  not  to  lower  the  level 
of  the  lake.  The  water  is  used  over  and  over  again.  It  seems 
to  me  that  the  permit  might  very  well  be  granted  to  the  first 
user.  As  the  water  is  taken  from  the  canal,  which  is  state 
property,  and  the  interest  and  jurisdiction  of  the  federal  govern- 
ment grow  out  of  the  direct  effect  upon  the  level  of  the  lake, 
the  permit  should  recite  that  this  does  not  confer  any  right 
upon  a  consumer  of  the  water  to  take  the  water  from  the  canal 
without  authority  and  subject  to  the  conditions  imposed  by  the 
canal  authorities,  but  that  it  is  intended  to  operate  and  its  opera- 


i2o  The  Niagara  River 


&■ 


tion  is  limited  to  confer,  so  far  as  the  federal  government  is 
concerned  and  the  Secretary  of  War  is  authorised,  the  right 
to  take  the  water  and  to  claim  immunity  from  any  prosecution 
or  legal  objection  under  the  fifth  section  of  the  Burton  Act. 

When  Sir  Hiram  S.  Maxim,  the  distinguished  in- 
ventor and  scientist,  made  his  recent  announcement 
to  Peter  Cooper  Hewitt  that  the  next  great  achieve- 
ment of  science  would  be  the  harnessing  of  the  whole 
energy  of  Niagara  and  the  sending  of  a  message  to 
Mars,  he  hit  the  nail,  in  the  opinion  of  Nikola  Tesla, 
squarely  on  the  head. 

Mr.  Tesla  announces  that  with  the  co-operation  of 
power-producing  companies  at  Niagara  Falls  he  is 
preparing  to  hail  Mars  with  Niagara's  voice.  A  way 
has  been  found  at  last  for  transmitting  a  wireless 
message  across  the  gulf,  varying  from  40,000,000  to 
100,000,000  miles,  which  separates  this  earth  from 
Mars.  Once  that  has  been  accomplished  and  Mars, 
which  is  considerably  older  and  supposedly  more  ad- 
vanced in  science  than  we,  has  acknowledged  the  receipt 
of  our  signal  and  sent  back  flash  for  flash,  it  will  remain 
to  devise  an  interplanetary  code  through  the  medium  of 
which  the  scientists  of  this  world  and  of  Mars  will  be 
able  to  understand  what  each  is  saying  to  the  other. 

Mr.  Tesla  has  been  quietly  working  for  several  years 
on  a  wireless  power  plant  capable  of  transmitting 
10,000  horse-power  to  any  part  of  the  world,  or  to  any 
of  our  neighbouring  planets,  for  that  matter.  The  mere 
matter  of  distance  between  despatching  and  receiving 
points  is  absolutely  no  object  whatever.  Wireless 
power,  Mr.  Tesla  says  may  be  sent  one  million  or  more 
miles  just  as  easily  as  one  mile. 


Harnessing  Niagara  Falls  121 

Several  of  the  electric  power  companies  with  im- 
mense generating  plants  at  Niagara  Falls,  it  is  reported, 
have  agreed  to  co-operate  with  Mr.  Tesla  in  an  effort 
to  reach  Mars  by  wireless. 

The  development  of  the  hydraulic  power  of  Niagara 
on  the  Canadian  side  is  leading  to  some  interesting 
sequences. 

A  tribunal  called  the  hydro-electric  power  commission  has 
been  created  [says  a  writer  in  a  recent  issue  of  Cassier's  Maga- 
zine], and  in  the  hands  of  this  body  has  been  placed  the  entire 
domestic  regulation  of  the  power  product  of  stations  coming 
within  government  control. 

In  addition  there  has  been  given  to  the  various  municipalities 
the  right  to  undertake  the  distribution  of  electrical  energy 
within  their  respective  limits. 

In  order  that  the  commission  may  be  in  a  position  to  dictate 
terms  to  the  existing  private  companies  it  is  important  that  the 
co-operation  of  the  municipalities  be  obtained,  and  this  appears 
to  be  partially  accomplished. 

The  city  of  Toronto  has  already  arranged  for  15,000  horse- 
power of  electric  energy  from  Niagara,  the  price  being  $14  to 
$16  per  horse-power  for  a  supply  for  a  24-hour  day,  including 
transmission  to  Toronto,  the  local  distribution  to  be  in  the 
hands  of  the  municipality,  and  it  is  believed  that  a  number  of 
other  cities  and  towns  will  make  similar  arrangements. 

These  arrangements  are  made  with  the  hydro-electric  power 
commission,  and  it  in  turn  must  either  secure  the  power  supply 
from  the  existing  private  companies  or  else  proceed  to  develop 
its  own  stations. 

It  is  hardly  probable  that  the  latter  alternative  will  be  found 
necessary,  since  the  result  would  be  to  leave  the  private  cor- 
porations with  the  greater  part  of  their  prospective  custom 
permanently  taken  away,  so  that  the  real  consequence  of  the 
recent  legislation  is  to  compel  the  companies  to  supply  the  muni- 
cipalities through  the  commission  at  prices  determined  by  the 
engineers  of  the  new  body. 


122  The  Niagara  River 

It  is  possible  that  such  measures  will  prove  advantageous 
to  the  public,  but  much  will  depend  upon  the  manner  in  which 
the  law  is  carried  out.  It  has  been  intimated  that  this  legis- 
lation will  render  it  exceedingly  difficult  for  promoters  to  induce 
outside  capital  to  engage  in  the  development  of  natural  re- 
s' mrces  in  Canada  hereafter. 


Chapter  VI 
A  Century  of  Niagara  Cranks 

THE  swirling  waters  of  Niagara  have  ever  been  a 
challenge  to  a  vast  army  of  adventurers  who 
found  in  their  own  daring  heedlessness  a  means 
here  of  gaining  money  and  a  mushroom  glory. 
Of  all  these  "Niagara  Cranks,"  as  they  are  known 
locally,  the  tight-rope  walkers  undoubtedly  have  the 
strongest  claim  to  our  admiration  for  the  utter  daring 
of  their  feats,  however  mercenary  may  have  been  the 
motives.  "Tut,  tut!  my  friends,"  would  reply  one  of 
these  brave,  popular  heroes  if  you  had  mentioned  fear, 
"'tis  nothing  at  all";  then,  confidentially,  he  would 
have  whispered  in  your  ear:  "You  can't  help  getting 
across.  You  get  out  to  the  middle  of  the  rope,  and 
there  you  are.  If  you  turn  back  you  lose  your  money, 
and  if  you  go  on  you  get  it.     That  's  all." 

It  was  the  great  Blondin  who  stands  king  of  the 
tight-rope  walkers  of  Niagara,  leaving  behind  him  a 
reputation  as  the  greatest  tight-rope  walker  of  the 
century. 

Charles  Emile  Gravelet  was  born  at  Hesdin,  near 

Calais,  on  the  twenty-eighth  of  February,   1824,  and 

died  in  Ealing,  near  London,  February  22,  1897.     His 

father,  whose   nickname,  "Blondin,"  from  the  colour 

of  his  hair,  descended  to  his  son,  was  a  soldier  of  the 

First  Empire  who  had  seen  service  under  Napoleon  at 

123 


i  j  4  The  Niagara  River 

Austerlitz,  Wagram,  and  Moscow,  but  died  when  his  son 
was  in  his  ninth  year.  The  pluck  and  strength  that 
young  Blondin  had  was  displayed  as  early  as  his  fourth 
.car;  when  only  a  few  years  older  he  was  trained  by 
the  principal  of  VEcole  de  Gymnase  at  Lyons  in  many 
gymnastic  feats,  and  after  six  months  there,  was 
brought  out  as  "The  Little  Wonder."     He  excelled 

jcially  at  tight-rope  dancing,  jumping,  and  somer- 
sault -tli rowing.  One  of  his  notable  jumps  was  over 
a  double  rank  of  soldiers  with  bayonets  fixed.  The 
agent  of  an  American  Company — the  Ravels — aware  of 
his  success  in  the  French  provinces  finally  gave  him  a 
two  years'  engagement  for  the  United  States,  which 
afterwards  was  extended  to  eight  years.  He  came  to 
America  in  1855;  and  it  was  not  long  after,  when  look- 
ing across  the  Niagara  Falls,  that  he  remarked  to  Mr. 
Ravel : 

' '  What  a  splendid  place  for  a  tight-rope  perform- 
ance." 

The  idea  was  impressive  and  as  a  result,  after  labo- 
rious preparations,  Blondin  was  ready  to  cross  a  wire, 
June  30,  1859.  Despite  the  unanimous  howl  of  deri- 
sion at  the  idea,  people  could  not  resist  the  temptation 
to  see  the  rash  performer  throw  his  life  away;  and  the 
crowd  that  gathered  was  the  largest  ever  seen  at  the 
Falls.  It  is  interesting,  from  more  than  one  standpoint, 
to  quote  the  New  York  Herald  of  July  1,  1859,  on  the 
exploit: 

Monsieur  Blondin  has  just  successfully  accomplished  the  feat 
of  walking  across  the  Niagara  on  a  tight  rope,  in  the  presence 
of  a  crowd  variously  estimated  at  from  five  thousand  to  ten 
thousand  persons.  He  first  crossed  from  the  American  side, 
stopping  midway  to  refresh  himself  with  water  raised  in  a  bottle 


A  Century  of  Niagara  Cranks  125 

with  a  rope  from  the  deck  of  the  steamer  Maid  of  the  Mist. 
The  time  occupied  in  the  first  crossing  was  seventeen  minutes 
and  a  half.  The  return  from  the  British  to  the  American  side 
was  accomplished  in  twelve  minutes. 

According  to  other  sources,  the  crowd  was  estimated 
at  fifty  thousand.  Blondin  did  considerably  more 
than  merely  pass  over,  for  he  carried  a  pole  weighing 
forty  pounds,  and  did  some  extraordinary  feats  of  bal- 
ancing and  came  ashore  amid  the  huzzas  of  the  crowd, 
with  the  whole  country  ringing  with  the  news  of  the 
daring  exploit. 

Some  little  difficulty  was  always  encountered  by 
tight-rope  walkers  from  proprietors  of  the  river  banks 
where  the  rope  was  to  be  attached  on  their  theory  that 
nothing  could  be  allowed  to  occur  at  Niagara  of  a 
money-making  nature  unless  they  were  a  party  to  the 
plunder.  One  Hamblin  stood  surety  for  the  payment 
for  Blondin's  rope,  which  was  over  fifteen  hundred 
feet  long  and  cost  thirteen  hundred  dollars. 

A  few  months  later  Blondin  carried  his  manager, 
Harry  Colcourt  or  Colcord,  across  on  his  back.  It  is 
said  (and  also  has  been  denied)  that  on  this  occasion 
Blondin  had  a  quarrel  with  Colcord.  The  latter  had 
previously  been  trained  to  balance  himself  in  order 
that  he  might  be  let  down  on  the  rope  in  the  middle 
of  the  river,  to  permit  Blondin  to  take  breath.  The 
wind  was  strong,  and  the  manager  showed  visible 
signs  of  nervousness,  while  the  rope  swayed  in  a  sickly 
manner.  Then,  according  to  the  story,  Blondin  threat- 
ened to  leave  his  manager  on  the  rope  at  the  mer- 
cy of  the  waters  underneath,  unless  he  kept  himself 
under  control.  Needless  to  say,  the  threat  was  success- 
ful,  and  the  trip  across  was  safely  made.     For  this 


[26  The  Niagara  River 


&■ 


special  feat  Blondin  received  a  gold  medal  from  the 
inhabitants  of  the  village,  as  a  tribute  of  admiration, 
with  the  following  inscription: 

Presented  to  Mons.  T.  F.  Blondin  by  the  citizens  of  Niagara 
Falls  in  appreciation  of  a  feat  never  before  attempted  by  man, 
but  by  him  successfully  performed  on  the  19th  of  August,  1859, 
that  of  carrying  a  man  upon  his  back  over  the  Falls  of  Niagara 
on  a  tight  rope. 

Of  the  ordinary  run  of  mortals  few  would  care  to 
attempt  Blondin's  feat,  but  it  is  not  impossible  that 
many  an  actor  envied  the  daring  athlete's  position  of 
utter  mastery  over  his  manager. 

A  few  days  later  the  fearless  Blondin  again  crossed 
the  river  chained  hand  and  foot.  On  his  return  he 
carried  a  cooking  stove  and  made  an  omelet  which  he 
lowered  to  the  passengers  on  the  deck  of  the  Maid  of  the 
Mist  below.  At  another  time  he  crossed  with  a  bushel 
basket  on  each  foot,  and  once  carried  a  woman  on  his 
back.  On  September  8,  i860,  Blondin  performed 
before  the  Prince  of  Wales,  now  Edward  VII. ,  the  rope 
being  stretched  230  feet  above  the  rapids,  between  two 
of  the  steepest  cliffs  on  the  river.  The  cool  actor 
turned  somersaults  before  His  Royal  Highness,  and 
successfully  managed  to  cross  on  a  pair  of  stilts.  The 
Prince  watched  every  movement  through  a  telescope 
and  was  highly  interested,  but  it  is  reported  that  he 
exclaimed,  when  Blondin  safely  reached  the  end  of 
the  rope,  "  Thank  God,  he  is  over!"  and  hurried  him  a 
check  for  the  perilous  feat. 

Apparently  Blondin  did  not  know  what  nervousness 
meant;  his  secret  has  been  described  as  confidence  in 
himself,   obtained   by   long  practice   in   rope-walking. 


A  Century  of  Niagara  Cranks  127 

There  is  no  doubt  some  of  the  victims  he  has  carried 
across  his  rope  have  suffered;  it  is  said  that  Blondin 
would  talk  to  his  companions  on  the  most  indifferent 
subjects;  he  would  urge  them  to  sit  perfectly  still,  avoid 
catching  him  around  the  neck  or  looking  downward. 
What  he  considered  as  one  of  his  greatest  feats  was  in 
walking  on  a  rope  from  the  mainmast  to  the  mizzen 
on  board  the  Peninsular  and  Oriental  steamer  Poonah, 
while  on  her  way  to  Australia,  between  Aden  and  Galle, 
in  1874.  He  had  to  sit  down  five  times  while  heavy 
waves  were  approaching  the  ship.  Blondin's  last 
performance  was  in  Agricultural  Hall,  London,  on 
Christmas,  1894,  where  he  appeared  as  active  and 
nimble  as  ever.  The  fact  is  certainly  wonderful  that 
for  nearly  seventy  years  he  walked  the  tight  rope 
without  accident. 

Mr.  W.  D.  Howells  was  an  eye-witness  to  three  cross- 
ings of  Blondin's  in  i860,  which  he  has  graphically 
described : 

The  man  himself  looked  cool  and  fresh  enough  but  I,  who 
was  not  used  to  such  violent  fatigues  as  he  must  have  undergone 
in  these  three  transits,  was  bathed  in  a  cold  perspiration,  and  so 
weak  and  worn  with  making  them  in  sympathy  that  I  could 
scarcely  walk  away. 

Long  afterwards  I  was  telling  about  this  experience  of 
mine — it  was  really  more  mine  than  Blondin's — in  the  neat 
shop  of  a  Venetian  pharmacist,  to  a  select  circle  of  the  physicians 
who  wait  in  such  places  in  Venice  for  the  call  of  their  patients. 
One  of  these  civilised  men,  asked:  "  Where  was  the  government?" 
And  I  answered  in  my  barbarous  pride  of  our  individualism: 
"The  government  had  nothing  to  do  with  it.  In  America 
the  government  has  nothing  to  do  with  such  things."  But  now 
I  think  that  this  Venetian  was  right,  and  that  such  a  show  as  I 
have  tried  to  describe  ought  no  more  to  have  been  permitted 
than  the  fight  of  a  man  with  a  wild  beast.     It  was  an  offence 


[28  The  Niagara  River 

to  morality,  and  it  thinned  the  frail  barrier  which  the  aspiration 
of  centuries  has  slowly  erected  between  humanity  and  savagery. 

Enough  savage  criticism  met  Blondin  in  England; 
his  rope-walking  in  Crystal  Palace,  Sydenham,  upon 
a  rope  240  feet  long  and  at  a  height  of  170  feet,  in 
imitation  of  the  Niagara  feat,  was  considered  a  sicken- 
ing spectacle.     Said  Once  a  Week: 

We  wish  Mr.  Blondin  no  sort  of  harm,  but  if  his  audiences 
were  to  dwindle  down  to  nothing,  so  as  to  cause  him  to  retire 
upon  his  savings,  we  should  congratulate  him  upon  having  es- 
caped a  great  danger,  and  the  country  upon  getting  rid  of  a 
disgrace  to  the  intelligence  of  the  age. 

Blondin  ended  his  career  as  an  English  country 
gentleman  at  Niagara  House,  South  Haling.  He  was 
wont  to  display  a  profusion  of  diamond  rings  and 
studs,  all  gifts  of  admirers,  and  the  cherished  gold  medal 
from  the  citizens  of  Niagara  Falls;  he,  too,  was  the 
proud  possessor  of  one  of  the  two  gold  medals  struck 
in  commemoration  of  the  Crystal  Palace  in  1854,  Queen 
Victoria  having  the  other.  He  had  also  the  cross  from 
ex-Queen  Isabel  of  Spain,  entitling  him  to  the  title  of 
Chevalier.  The  athlete's  baggage,  when  on  a  tour, 
consisted  of  a  main  rope  of  eight  hundred  feet,  six  and 
a  half  inches  in  circumference,  and  weighing  eight  hun- 
dredweight; twenty-eight  straining  ropes,  eighty  tying- 
bars,  the  average  weight,  not  including  poles,  being 
five  and  a  half  tons.  The  freight  of  his  outfit,  including 
a  huge  travelling-tent,  which  could  encompass  fourteen 
thousand  people,  amounted  to  five  thousand  dollars 
between  Southampton  and  Melbourne.  About  three 
days  were  consumed  in  making  his  preparations  by  the 
aid  of  a  dozen  assistants.     The  due  adjustment  of  the 


A  Century  of  Niagara  Cranks  129 

rope  was  his  principal  care,  and  he  superintended  every 
detail. 

Like  many  a  Frenchman,  Blondin  never  mastered 
the  intricacies  of  the  English  language.  In  a  rather 
queer  and  rambling  fragment  of  autobiography  written 
some  years  ago,  he  tells  us  that  the  rope  he  generally 
used  was  formed  with  a  flexible  core  of  steel-wire  cov- 
ered with  the  best  manila-hemp,  about  an  inch  or  three 
quarters  in  diameter,  several  hundred  yards  in  length, 
and  costing  about  fifteen  hundred  dollars.  A  large 
windlass  at  either  end  of  the  rope  served  to  make  it 
taut,  while  it  was  supported  by  two  high  poles.  His 
balancing  poles  of  ash  wood  varied  in  length  and  were 
of  three  sections,  and  weighed  from  thirty-seven  to 
forty-seven  pounds.  He  was  indifferent  as  to  the 
height  at  which  he  was  to  perform.  Blondin  has  never 
confessed  to  any  nervousness  on  the  rope,  and,  while 
walking,  he  generally  looked  eighteen  or  twenty  feet 
ahead,  and  whistled  or  hummed  some  snatch  of  a  song. 
The  time  kept  by  a  band  frequently  aided  him  in 
preserving  his  balance.  He  was  something  of  both 
carpenter  and  blacksmith,  and  was  able  to  make  his 
own  models  and  fit  up  his  own  apparatus. 

While  Blondin  yet  performed  at  the  Falls  there 
appeared  Signor  Farini  in  i860,  and  stretched  a  cable 
across  the  Gorge  near  the  hydraulic  canal  basin.  On 
August  8,  1864,  Farini  reappeared  walking  about  the 
Rapids  above  the  American  fall  on  stilts.  He  was 
certainly  an  expert  on  the  rope  and  commanded 
much  attention,  but  he  was  not  able  to  snatch  the 
laurel  from  the  Frenchman's  brow — he  has  been  for- 
gotten, while  Blondin's  fame  has  lived.  We  must, 
however,    chronicle   a   thrilling   incident    attached    to 


130  The  Niagara  River 

his  performance  in  1864.  Between  Robinson's  Island 
and  the  precipice  Farini  was  suddenly  delayed.  He 
claimed  his  stilts  caught  in  a  crevice.  His  brother 
succeeded  in  reaching  a  log  between  the  old  paper-mill 
and  Robinson's  Island,  from  which  he  threw  a  line, 
with  a  weight  attached,  to  the  adventurer,  and  by  this 
line  a  pail  of  provisions  was  sent  to  Farini.  A  larger 
line  was  thrown  and  both  reached  shore  by  way  of  Goat 
Island. 

There  has  hardly  been  a  year  in  which  some  tight- 
rope exhibition  has  not  taken  place  at  Niagara  Falls. 

Harry  Leslie  crossed  the  Gorge  on  a  rope-cable  in 
July  and  August,  1865.  He  achieved  the  title  of  "  The 
American  Blondin." 

In  1873,  when  Signor  Balleni  (Ballini?)  stretched  a 
cable  from  a  point  opposite  the  old  Clifton  House  to 
Prospect  Park,  he  leaped  three  times  into  the  river  as 
an  extra  inducement,  aided  in  his  descent  by  a  rubber 
cord.  In  1886  he  reappeared,  climbed  to  the  iron  rail- 
ing on  the  upper  suspension  bridge,  knocked  the  ice 
from  under  his  feet  to  secure  a  footing,  and  at  the  signal 
of  a  pistol  shot  jumped  into  the  air.  He  struck  the 
water  in  four  seconds,  broke  a  rib,  lost  his  senses,  and 
came  to  the  surface  some  sixty  feet  from  where  he 
entered.  This  was  the  same  man  who  jumped  from 
Hungerford  Bridge,  London,  in  1888,  and  was  drowned. 
In  July,  1876,  Signorina  Maria  Spelterini  crossed  the 
Gorge  on  a  tight-rope  with  baskets  on  her  feet.  The 
performance  brought  out  a  tremendous  crowd,  proba- 
bly because  she  was  the  first  woman  daring  to  try  con- 
clusions with  Blondin  and  his  many  imitators.  She 
got  across  safely  with  her  baskets  and  her  name.  She 
won  great  favour  and  forever  established  the  fact  that 


The  Path  to  the  Cave  of  the  Winds. 
From  a  photograph  by  Notman,  Montreal. 


A  Century  of  Niagara  Cranks  131 

a  woman  is  as  level-headed  as  a  man.  In  the  seventies 
of  the  last  century,  a  young  fellow,  Stephen  Peere,  a 
painter  by  trade,  stretched  a  cable  across  the  Falls. 
In  1878  he  gave  variety  to  his  career  by  jumping 
from  one  of  the  bridges,  and  in  1887  he  finished  it  by 
jumping  to  his  death.  He  had  previously,  on  June 
22,  1887,  walked  across  the  Gorge  on  a  wire  cable  six- 
eighths  of  an  inch  in  diameter.  This  was  a  wonderful 
performance,  considering  the  fact  that  all  the  others 
had  used  a  rope  two  inches  in  diameter.  Only  three 
days  later  he  was  found  dead  on  a  bank  beneath  his 
rope,  stretched  between  the  old  suspension  and  the 
cantilever  bridges.  It  is  supposed  he  attempted  to 
practise  in  night  time,  but  as  nobody  saw  him  he  met 
his  fate;  this  is  only  supposition.  A  man,  "  Profes- 
sor" De  Leon,  aspiring  to  become  Peere's  successor, 
started  out  on  August  15,  1887,  to  cross  the  latter's 
cable.  After  going  a  short  distance  he  became  fright- 
ened,  slid  down  a  rope,  and  disappeared  in  the  bushes. 
He  was  later  seen  ascending  the  bank  by  a  ladder,  and 
thus  came  back  to  the  bosom  of  his  family.  MacDon- 
ald  made  several  very  creditable  attempts,  and  proved 
himself  an  excellent  walker.  He  also  went  across  with 
baskets  on  his  feet,  and  frightened  the  gaping  crowd 
by  hanging  with  his  legs  from  the  wire,  head  downwards. 
Another  freak,  I.  F.  Jenkins,  stretched  his  cable 
across  the  Gorge  over  the  Rapids.  With  a  keen 
eye  for  effect  and  sensation  he  selected  as  one  of  his 
principal  feats,  crossing  by  velocipede.  The  machine, 
however,  was  specially  constructed  for  this  purpose; 
it  was  a  turned-down  contrivance,  only  resembling 
a  bicycle,  and  had  an  ingeniously  devised  balancing 
apparatus  in  lieu  of  a  pole  attached  by  a  metal  frame- 


1^2  The  Niagara  River 

work  to  the  wheels.  Thus  this  piece  de  resistance  was 
not  so  remarkable  after  all.  Samuel  John  Dixon,  a 
Toronto  photographer,  was  on  his  way  to  a  Photo- 
graphers'Annual  Convention  when  he  observed  Peere's 
cable  still  stretched  across  the  Rapids  of  Niagara.  He 
remarked  that  he  too  could  cross  on  it,  but  the  remark 
was  not  taken  seriously ;  to  prove  that  he  was  in  earnest, 
Dixon,  on  his  return,  actually  made  the  dangerous  trip 
on  the  three-quarter  inch  cable,  measuring  923  feet  in 
length.  One  of  this  amateur's  crack  feats  was  laying 
down  with  his  back  on  the  wire.  He  has  made  several 
other  passages  since, — the  first  occurring  on  September 
6,  1890 — always  with  great  eclat.  Dixon  has  always 
been  vigorously  applauded.  James  E.  Hardy  has  also 
successful  crossings  at  the  Gorge  to  his  credit.  He  also 
holds  the  "record"  of  being  the  youngest  man  that 
ever  performed  the  feat.  Another  Toronto  man,  Clif- 
ford M.  Calverley,  has  been  styled  "The  World's  Cham- 
pion," and  "The  American  Blondin,"  but  although 
very  clever,  many  of  his  feats  are  just  those  which 
made  the  Frenchman  famous  over  forty  years  ago. 
His  wheelbarrow  feat  is  certainly  middle-aged 
although  it  still  remains  as  difficult  to  perform  as  it 
was  in  Blondin's  days.  People  never  tire  of  it  and 
Calverley  wras,  indeed,  a  remarkable  gymnast.  He 
erected  a  wire  cable  at  about  the  same  point  between 
the  bridges  at  which  Peere  and  Dixon  had  crossed,  and 
gave  public  exhibitions  on  October  12,  1892,  and  July 
1,  1893.  He  performed  numerous  stunning  feats  as 
high-kicking,  walking  writh  baskets  on  his  feet,  cooking 
meals  on  the  rope,  and  chair-balancing;  he  also  gave 
night  exhibitions,  which  was  original. 

One  man  at  least  took  the  tight-rope  route  across 


A  Century  of  Niagara  Cranks  133 

Niagara  who  had  not  practised  the  feat.  This  was  a 
criminal  who  escaped  his  captors  near  this  locality  in 
1883;  the  sheriff  was  behind  him,  the  river  in  front, 
and  only  the  wires  of  the  old  bridge  at  Lewiston  to 
help  him  across.  Hand  over  hand  he  began  the  pas- 
sage. His  hands  quickly  blistered,  and  then  they  bled. 
Again  and  again  he  rested  his  arms  by  hanging  by  his 
legs,  and  at  last  reached  the  opposite  bank  where  he 
lay  panting  fully  an  hour  before  he  continued  his 
flight. 

We  have  seen  that  all  the  tight-rope  walkers  at 
Niagara  met  with  extraordinary  luck  while  crossing 
the  Gorge;  in  fact,  we  have  no  record  that  anybody 
ever  lost  his  life  while  performing  on  the  wire.  Peere 
met  with  an  accident,  and  was  killed  in  night-time;  it 
is  said  he  was  intoxicated  and  tried  to  cross  with  his 
boots  on.  Ballini  met  his  death  in  the  Thames  River. 
Many  lives,  however,  have  been  lost  in  attempting  to 
brave  the  waters  of  the  canyon  at  Niagara. 

Attracted  by  the  sensational  setting  adrift  of  the 
condemned  brig  Michigan  over  the  Falls  in  1829,  Sam 
Patch,  a  man  who  had  won  fame  at  Pawtucket  Falls 
and  other  Eastern  points  as  a  high-jumper,  erected 
a  ladder  on  the  foot-path  under  Goat  Island,  and  an- 
nounced to  the  world  that  he  would  jump  into  Niagara 
River.  The  hotel  keepers  patted  him  on  the  back, 
and  left  no  stone  unturned  to  enable  him  to  draw  the 
biggest  crowd  of  the  season.  Patch  rested  the  bottom 
of  his  ladder  on  the  edge,  just  north  of  the  Biddle  Stairs, 
with  the  top  inclining  over  the  river,  staying  it  with 
ropes  to  the  trees  on  the  bank.  At  the  top  was  a  small 
platform,  and  from  this  Patch  dived  ninety-seven  feet ; 
he  jumped  a  second  time  to  prove  that  the  first  feat 


i,u  The  Niagara  River 

was  not  a  fluke.  Shortly  afterwards  he  leaped 
to  his  death  from  the  Genesee  Fall  in  Rochester, 
N.  Y. 

Captain  Matthew  Webb,  of  Niagara  fame,  was  born 
in  Shropshire,  England,  in  1840.  He  went  to  sea  at 
an  early  age  and  became  captain  of  a  merchantman,  and 
first  attracted  notice  by  jumping  from  a  Cunard  steamer 
to  save  a  man  who  had  fallen  overboard,  for  which  he 
was  awarded  a  gold  medal  by  the  Royal  Humane  So- 
ciety. In  1875  he  accomplished  the  feat  of  swimming 
the  English  Channel  from  Dover  to  Calais,  a  distance 
of  twenty-five  miles. 

The  disastrous  attempt  to  swim  the  rapids  at  Niag- 
ara took  place  on  July  2,  1883.  Webb  wore  no  life 
preserver  and  scorned  a  barrel,  depending  solely  on 
his  own  strength  to  put  him  through.  Leaving  his 
hotel,  the  old  Clifton  House,  since  destroyed  by  fire,  at 
4  p.m.,  before  an  immense  crowd  on  the  cliffs  and 
bridges  (for  the  event  had  been  well  heralded),  he 
entered  a  small  boat  with  Jack  McCloy  at  the  oars, 
and  was  carried  to  a  point  on  the  lower  river  several 
hundred  feet  above  the  lower  bridges.  It  was  4.25 
when,  clad  in  a  pair  of  red  trunks,  he  leaped  from  the 
boat  into  the  water,  and  boldly  swam  towards  the 
Rapids.  It  was  4.32  when  he  passed  under  the  bridges. 
He  then  stroked  out  gracefully  and  beautifully.  In 
three  minutes  more  he  had  reached  the  fiercest  part  of 
the  Rapids  when  a  great  wave  struck  him — and  he 
disappeared  from  the  sight  of  the  thousands  of 
eyes  that  watched  the  boiling  waters,  praying  that 
his  life  might  be  spared.  He  came  once  again  into 
view  but  then  disappeared  forever  in  the  raging 
waters. 


A  Century  of  Niagara  Cranks  135 

The  Saturday  Review  of  July  28,  1883,1  voiced  the 
British  feeling  when  it  said: 

It  was  unquestionably  very  appropriate  that  Mr.  Webb  should 
have  met  his  death  in  America,  and  in  sight  of  the  United 
States.  That  country  has  a  passion  for  big  shows,  and  has  now 
been  indulged  in  the  biggest  thing  of  its  kind  which  has  been 
seen  in  this  generation.  Nothing  was  to  be  gained  by  success — 
if  success  had  been  possible — beyond  a  temporary  notoriety  and 
the  applause  of  a  mob.   .  .  . 

As  long  as  there  is  a  popular  demand  for  these  essentially 
barbarous  amusements,  men  and  women  will  be  found  who  are 
desperate,  or  greedy,  or  vain  enough  to  risk  their  lives  and  ruin 
their  health  for  money  or  applause.  .  .  .  The  death  of  Mr. 
Webb  is  shocking  in  the  last  degree;  but  it  will  not  be  wholly 
useless  if  it  at  least  awakens  the  sight-seeing  world  to  some 
sense  of  what  it  is  they  have  been  encouraging. 

It  is  interesting  to  compare  this  just  criticism  with 
that  passed  on  Blondin's  exhibition  at  Crystal  Palace 
previously  quoted. 

When  Webb  swam  across  the  channel,  the  feat  was 
a  remarkable  instance  of  strength  and  endurance.  It 
showed  that  a  powerful  man  who  was  a  good  swimmer 
could  continue  to  make  progress  through  the  water  on 
a  very  fine  day  for  over  twenty  hours.  Indeed,  ship- 
wrecked sailors  have  done  nearly  as  much  under  far 
less  favorable  circumstances;  but  as  far  as  it  went, 
Webb's  was  a  very  creditable  performance.  But  in 
the  Channel  many  vessels  were  following  him  and  would 
have  picked  him  up  the  moment  he  became  exhausted. 
Yet  it  was  nowise  to  his  credit  to  throw  his  life  away 
at  Niagara,  and  render  his  children  orphans,  for  the 
ignoble  object  of  pleasing  a  mob. 

It  was  not  long  before  another  swimmer  appeared 

'Vol.  lvi.,  p.  106,  seq. 


136  The  Niagara  River 

who  wore  a  harness  over  his  shoulders  to  which  was 
attached  a  wire  running  loosely  over  a  cylinder  on  the 
bridge,  which  kept  his  feet  straight  towards  Davy  Jones's 
locker;  he  survived  the  leap  to  his  considerable  personal 
profit.  From  bridge  to  water  he  went  in  four  seconds — 
the  only  time  on  record.  Another  foolhardy  feat  was 
performed  by  some  of  the  reckless  men  who  decorate 
almost  inaccessible  landscapes  with  possibly  truthful 
but  most  annoying,  puffs  of  ague-pills,  liver-pads, 
tooth-powder,  and  such.  A  log  once  lodged  forty 
rods  above  Goat  Island,  where  for  four  years  it 
lay  seemingly  beyond  human  reach.  It  touched  the 
pride  of  certain  shameless  and  professional  advertisers, 
who  were  famous  for  their  ingenious  vandalism,  that 
such  a  chance  should  be  wasted.  So,  when  the  Rapids 
were  thinly  frozen  over,  they  made  their  cautious  way 
to  the  log,  and  soon  there  was  a  gorgeous  sign  fixed, 
twelve  feet  by  four,  on  the  very  fore-front  of  ore  of 
the  world's  grandest  spots,  to-wit: 

Go  East  via  Lake  Winipiseogee  R.  R." 

Nothing  daunted  by  the  sad  fate  of  Captain  Webb, 
a  burly  Boston  policeman,  W.  I.  Kendall,  went  through 
the  Rapids  on  August  22,  1886,  protected  by  only  a 
cork  life-preserver.  All  previous  trips  had  been  pub- 
licly announced,  but  Kendall  slipped  through  with 
only  a  few  spectators,  accidentally  on  the  cliffs  or 
bridges,  to  bear  witness.  For  this  reason  some  have 
felt  that  the  trip  was  never  made,  but  men  of  integrity 
are  known  who  witnessed  the  performance.  On  Sun- 
day, August  14,  1887,  "Professor"  Alphonse  King 
crossed  the  river  below  the  Falls  and  bridge  on  a  water 
bicycle.     The  wheel  with  paddles  was  erected  between 


American  Falls  from  Goat  Island. 


A  Century  of  Niagara  Cranks  137 

two  water-tight  cylinders,  eight  inches  in  diameter  and 
ten  feet  long. 

"Steve"  Brodie,  who  had  achieved  great  notoriety 
by  jumping  from  Brooklyn  Bridge,  created  a  greater 
sensation  by  going  over  the  Falls.  This  occurred  on 
September  7,  1889.  Brodie  wore  an  india-rubber  suit, 
surrounded  by  thick  steel  bands.  The  suit  was  very 
thickly  padded,  yet  Brodie  was  brought  ashore  bruised 
and  insensible.  His  victories  won,  he  became  the  pro- 
prietor of  a  Bowery  bar-room,  and  the  pride  of  the 
neighbourhood. 

The  cranks  that  were  trying  to  get  through  the 
Whirlpool  did  not  arrive  at  Niagara  until  about  1886, 
but  from  that  on  we  find  an  embarras  de  richesse  of 
them  for  a  decade  or  so  until  the  peculiar  mania  for 
notoriety  died  out. 

The  fate  that  befell  Webb  could  not  discourage 
others  to  venture  the  perilous  trip,  and,  probably,  the 
pioneer  of  them  was  C.  D.  Graham,  an  English  cooper 
of  Philadelphia,  who  conceived  the  idea  that,  though  no 
regular  boat  could  live  in  the  rush  of  the  waters  below 
the  Falls  of  Niagara,  it  would  perhaps  be  possible  for 
a  novel  kind  of  boat,  a  cask  shaped  like  a  buoy,  with 
a  man  in  it,  to  get  down  to  Lewiston  in  safety.  He 
therefore  made  a  series  of  such  casks  at  an  expenditure 
of  a  great  deal  of  time  and  labour;  and,  at  last  finding  a 
shape  to  his  mind,  filled  two  or  three  in  succession  with 
bags  of  sand  equal  to  his  own  weight,  and  set  them 
afloat  at  Niagara.  They  arrived  safely  in  smooth 
water,  threading  the  Rapids  and  the  Whirlpool  after 
a  journey  of  some  five  miles;  the  inventor  thereupon 
resolved  to  keep  one  side  uppermost,  in  which  was  left 
an  air-hole,  and  fastened  in  the  cask  a  long  canvas  bag, 


.•> 


8  The  Niagara  River 


made  like  a  suit  of  clothes,  and  waterproof.  Getting 
into  this  bag  on  July  1 1,  1886,  he  grasped  two  iron  han- 
dles fixed  to  the  staves  on  the  inner  side  of  the  cask; 
a  movable  cover  being  fastened  on,  the  odd  craft  was 
shoved  into  the  rushing  waters.  The  cask,  of  course, 
turned  over  and  over;  and  though  water  got  into  the 
air-hole,  it  did  not  get  into  the  canvas  bag;  the  surging 
waters  handled  the  cask  so  roughly  that  Graham 
straightway  fell  sick,  but  clung  to  his  iron  staples,  and 
in  a  space  of  time  exceeding  thirty  minutes — accounts 
differ  here — reached  smooth  water  at  Lewiston,  five 
miles  away,  and  was  safely  taken  out,  able  to  boast 
that  he  had  performed  a  feat  hitherto  deemed  im- 
possible. 

His  record  trip  in  a  cask  was  made  on  August  19, 
1886.  On  this  occasion  he  announced  that  he  would 
make  the  trip  with  his  head  protruding  from  the  top 
of  the  barrel.  This  was  actually  done;  he  went  as  far 
as  the  Whirlpool,  but  it  left  him  very  little  hearing, 
for  a  big  wave  gave  him  a  furious  slap  on  the  side  of  the 
head.  Graham  made  other  trips  in  1887  and  1889,  and 
his  last,  probably,  in  1901.  This  nearly  ended  his  life, 
as  he  was  caught  in  an  eddy  where  he  was  held  for  over 
twenty  minutes ;  when  he  finally  reached  the  Whirlpool 
and  was  taken  out  he  was  nearly  suffocated. 

Graham's  performances,  possibly,  were  also  of  some 
practical  value.  It  was  proven  to  the  observant  that  a 
particular  shape  of  cask  might,  under  certain  conditions, 
be  used  to  draw  feeble  or  sickly  passengers  from  a 
wrecked  ship  in  bad  weather,  for  a  woman  or  a  child 
could  have  lived  in  Graham's  machine  as  well  as  the 
cooper  himself;  however,  the  circumstances  are  few 
under  which  it  would  be  useful,  and  Graham,  by  his 


A  Century  of  Niagara  Cranks  139 

own  account,  had  no  idea  of  applying  his  contrivance 
in  any  such  way. 

It  is  a  question  whether  the  barrel-cranks  made  any 
money  by  their  foolhardy  feats.  That  nothing  inter- 
ests callous  men  like  the  risk  of  a  human  life  is  undoubt- 
edly true  and  has  been  proved  by  the  whole  history  of 
amusement.  The  interest  must  depend  on  sight.  No- 
body would  pay  merely  to  know  that  at  a  specified  hour 
Blondin  was  risking  his  life  a  hundred  miles  off.  The 
man  in  the  cask  would  not  be  seen,  and  to  see  a  closed 
cask  go  bobbing  about  down  five  miles  of  rapids  would 
not  be  an  exciting  amusement,  more  especially  as,  after 
two  or  three  successful  trials,  the  notion  of  any  immi- 
nency  or  inevitableness  of  actual  danger  would  disap- 
pear from  the  spectator's  mind.  Captain  Webb,  of 
course,  expected  his  speculation  to  pay  him;  but  then, 
it  was  in  a  somewhat  different  way.  He  did  not  expect 
any  money  from  those  who  gazed  from  the  shore,  but 
believed, — as  did  also  the  speculators  who  paid  him — 
that  if  he  swam  Niagara,  he  would  revive  the  waning  in- 
terest in  his  really  splendid  feats  of  customary  swimming. 

Copying  somewhat  the  idea  that  Graham  had  de- 
veloped so  successfully,  George  Hazlett  and  William 
Potts,  also  coopers  of  Buffalo,  made  a  trip  through  the 
Rapids  in  a  barrel  of  their  own  construction  on  August 
8,  1886.  The  barrel  they  used  more  closely  resembled 
the  familiar  type  of  barrel,  having  no  unusual  features 
of  form.  In  this  same  barrel  used  by  the  two  coopers, 
Miss  Sadie  Allen  and  George  Hazlett  made  a  trip 
through  the  Niagara  Gorge  on  November  28,  1886. 
There  was  then,  I  believe,  a  cessation  of  the  barrel- 
fiends,  who,  nevertheless,  re-appeared  in  the  twentieth 
century. 


140  The  Niagara  River 

At  the  end  of  the  summer  of  1901 ,  Martha  E.  Wagen- 
fuhrer,  the  wife  of  a  professional  wrestler,  announced 
that  she  would  go  through  the  river  in  a  barrel,  the  date 
of  September  6th  being  selected,  possibly  because  the 
\v<  iman  believed  that  she  might  have  a  President  of  the 
United  States  in  her  audience,  for  on  that  day  Presi- 
dent McKinley  visited  Niagara.  Quite  a  crowd  col- 
lected, for  she  was  the  first  woman  to  try  the  feat  alone. 
She  was  rescued  after  being  in  the  water  over  an  hour. 

It  was  nearly  six  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  [to  quote  the  New- 
York  Times  of  September  7,  1901,]  when  the  barrel  containing 
Martha  E.  Wagenfuhrer  was  set  adrift  on  the  lower  Niagara 
River,  to  be  carried  by  the  currents  into  the  rapids  and  vortex 
of  the  Whirlpool.  The  trip  through  the  rapids  was  quickly 
made,  but  the  rescue  from  the  Whirlpool  was  delayed.  Night 
fell  before  the  barrel  was  recovered,  and  the  woman's  friends 
had  availed  themselves  of  the  help  of  a  powerful  searchlight  to 
illuminate  the  rushing  tossing  waters  of  the  pool.  She  started 
at  5.56  o'clock,  and  it  was  7  o'clock  when  the  barrel  was  landed. 
The  head  of  the  cask  had  to  be  broken  in  in  order  to  get  the 
woman  out.  She  was  in  a  semi-conscious  condition.  Before 
entering  the  barrel  she  had  indulged  freely  in  liquor,  but  when 
she  got  out  her  first  call  was  for  water. 

Female  barrel-fiends  now  followed  in  rapid  succes- 
sion. Maud  Willard  of  Canton,  Ohio,  lost  her  life  on 
the  7th  of  September,  1 901,  in  navigating  the  Whirlpool 
Rapids  in  Graham's  barrel.  Graham,  as  we  have  seen, 
had  made  five  successful  trips,  and  Miss  Willard  desired 
to  attain  fame  by  doing  the  same.  She  and  Graham 
were  good  friends,  and  to  please  her  he  was  to  swim 
from  the  Whirlpool  to  Lewiston  following  her  trip 
through  the  Rapids.  The  barrel  was  taken  to  the 
river  in  the  morning.  It  was  an  enormous  affair,  made 
of  oak,  and  at  4  o'clock  Miss  Willard  got  into  it,  accom- 


A  Century  of  Niagara  Cranks  141 

panied  by  her  pet  dog.  The  cover  was  put  over  the 
manhole,  and  she  was  taken  out  into  the  stream  in  tow 
of  a  small  boat,  and  left  to  the  mercy  of  the  currents. 

Miss  Willard  passed  safely  through  the  Rapids,  but 
the  mighty  maelstrom  then  held  her  far  out  from  shore, 
where  her  friends  and  would-be  rescuers  could  not  reach 
her.  From  4.40  o'clock  until  after  10  o'clock  at  night 
she  was  whirled  about  in  the  peculiar  formation  of  the 
Niagara  here.  Messengers  were  sent  to  Niagara  Falls 
to  have  the  searchlight  car  of  the  electric  line  sent  down 
the  Gorge ;  huge  bonfires  were  built  to  warm  the  specta- 
tors, and  likewise  to  illuminate  the  river.  Soon  a  beam 
of  white  light  shot  across  the  waters  from  the  American 
to  the  Canadian  side;  now  and  then  the  tossing  barrel 
could  be  seen  tumbling  and  bobbing,  and  rolling  in  the 
currents.  The  latter  were  then  suddenly  changing — 
first  a  piece  of  wood  came  in  drifting  toward  shore — 
within  a  short  time  the  barrel  hove  in  sight  within  the 
light  of  the  beacons,  and  men  swam  out  to  catch  it. 

When  the  manhole  cover  was  removed,  Miss  Wil- 
lard was  limp  and  lifeless.  Death  probably  came  grad- 
ually, and  possibly  without  much  suffering.  The  little 
dog  came  out  alive,  and  none  the  worse  for  the  perilous 
trip. 

While  she  was  tossing  in  the  Whirlpool,  Graham 
made  his  trip  to  Lewiston,  the  only  person  who  ever 
swam  from  the  pool  to  Lewiston.  When  he  returned 
up  the  Gorge  he  found  the  barrel  and  Miss  Willard  still 
in  the  terrible  pool. 

A  widow,  Mrs.  Anna  Edson  Taylor,  safely  passed 
over  Niagara  Falls  in  a  barrel  on  Friday,  October  24, 
1 90 1 ,  the  trip  from  end  to  end  being  witnessed  by 
several  thousand  people.     The  fact  that  Mrs.  Taylor 


142  The  Niagara  River 

failed  to  appear,  as  advertised,  on  the  Sunday  before, 
and  again  on  Wednesday,  did  not  lessen  the  confidence 
of  the  public.  It  was  beyond  belief  that  she  would 
live  to  tell  the  story,  but  she  came  out  alive  and  well 
so  soon  as  she  recovered  from  the  shock. 

This  initial  voyage  over  Niagara's  cataract  began  at 
Port  Day,  nearly  a  mile  from  the  brink  of  the  Falls. 
At  this  point  the  daring  woman  and  her  barrel  were 
taken  out  to  Grass  Island,  where  she  entered;  at  3.50 
she  was  in  tow  of  a  boat  speeding  well  out  into  the 
Canadian  current.  Soon  after  the  barrel  was  cast 
adrift  on  the  current  that  never  before  was  known  to 
spare  a  human  life  once  fallen  in  its  grasp.  From  the 
spot  where  the  rowboat  left  the  barrel  the  current  runs 
frightfully  swift,  soon  boiling  on  the  teeth  of  the  upper 
rifts ;  the  barrel  was  weighted  with  a  two  hundred  pound 
anvil,  and  it  floated  nicely  in  the  water,  Mrs.  Taylor 
apparently  retaining  an  upright  position  for  the  greater 
part  of  the  trip  down  the  river  and  through  the  rapids. 
Fortunately  the  cask  kept  well  within  the  deep  water, 
and  except  for  passing  out  of  sight  several  times,  in 
the  white-crested  waves,  it  was  in  view  for  the  greater 
part  of  a  mile.  In  passing  over  the  Horseshoe  Fall  the 
barrel  kept  toward  the  Canadian  side  at  a  point  three 
hundred  feet  from  the  centre. 

It  dropped  over  the  Fall  at  4.23  o'clock,  the  bottom 
well  down.  In  less  than  a  minute  it  appeared  at  the 
base  of  the  Fall,  and  was  swept  down  stream.  The 
current  cast  it  aside  in  an  eddy,  and,  floating  back 
up-stream,  it  was  held  between  two  eddies  until  cap- 
tured at  4.40  o'clock.  As  it  was  grounded  on  a  rock, 
out  in  the  river,  it  was  difficult  to  handle,  but  several 
men  soon  had  the  hatch  off.     Mrs.  Taylor  was  alive 


Horseshoe  Falls  from  Goat  Island. 


A  Century  of  Niagara  Cranks  143 

and  conscious  but  before  she  could  be  taken  out  of  the 
barrel  it  was  necessary  to  saw  a  portion  of  the  top  away. 
Her  condition  was  a  surprise  to  all.  She  walked  along 
the  shore  to  a  boat,  and  was  taken  down  the  river  to 
the  Maid  of  the  Mist  dock,  where  she  entered  a  car- 
riage and  was  brought  to  Niagara  Falls.  The  woman 
was  suffering  greatly  from  the  shock,  and  had  a  three- 
inch  cut  in  her  scalp,  back  of  the  right  ear,  but  how  or 
when  she  got  it  she  did  not  know.  She  complained  of 
pains  between  the  shoulders,  but  it  is  thought  that  this 
was  due  to  the  fact  that  her  shoulders  were  thrown 
back  during  the  plunge,  as  she  had  her  arms  in 
straps,  and  these  undoubtedly  saved  her  neck  from 
breaking. 

She  admitted  having  lost  consciousness  in  passing 
over  the  Falls.  While  thanking  God  for  sparing  her 
life,  she  warned  every  one  not  to  repeat  her  foolhardy 
trip.  So  severe  was  the  shock  that  she  wandered  in 
her  talk,  with  three  doctors  attending  her;  she,  how- 
ever, soon  recovered. 

Mrs.  Taylor  was  forty-three  years  old  when  she 
made  this  marvellous  trip.  She  was  born  in  Auburn, 
N.  Y.,  and  was  a  school  teacher  in  Bay  City,  Mich., 
before  she  came  East.  She  had  crossed  the  American 
continent  from  ocean  to  ocean  eight  times,  and  during 
her  stay  East  impressed  everybody  with  her  wonderful 
nerve. 

The  barrel  in  which  Mrs.  Taylor  made  the  journey 
was  four  and  one-half  feet  high,  and  about  three  feet 
in  diameter.  A  leather  harness  and  cushions  inside 
protected  her  body.  Air  was  secured  through  a  rub- 
ber tube  connecting  with  a  small  opening  near  the  top 
of  the  barrel.     Her  warning  evidently  has  been  heeded. 


144  The  Niagara  River 

To  our  knowledge  no  barrel-fiend    has  reappeared  at 
the  shores  of  Niagara  within  the  last  five  years. 

In  the  year  1846,  a  small  steamer  was  built  in  the 
eddy  just  above  the  suspension  bridge  to  run  up  to  the 
Falls,  and  very  appropriately  named  the  Maid  of  the 
Mist.  Her  engine  was  rather  weak,  but  she  safely 
accomplished  the  trip.  Since  she  took  passengers 
aboard  only  from  the  Canada  side,  however,  she  did 
little  more  than  pay  expenses,  and  in  1854,  a  larger, 
better  boat,  with  a  more  powerful  engine,  a  new  Maid 
of  the  Mist,  was  put  on  the  route  and  many  persons 
since  have  made  this  most  exciting  and  impressive 
voyage  along  the  foot  of  the  Falls. 

Owing  to  some  change  in  the  appointments  of  the  Maid 
of  the  Mist  which  confined  her  landings  to  the  Canadian  shore 
she  too  became  unprofitable  and  her  owner  having  decided  to 
leave  the  place  wished  to  sell  her  as  she  lay  on  her  dock.  This 
he  could  not  do,  but  having  received  an  offer  of  more  than  half 
of  her  cost,  if  he  would  deliver  her  at  Niagara-on-the-Lake,  he 
determined  a  consultation  with  Joel  Robinson,  who  had  acted 
as  her  captain  and  pilot  on  her  trips  under  the  Falls  to  make  the 
attempt  to  take  her  down  the  river.  Mr.  Robinson  agreed  to 
act  as  pilot  on  the  fearful  voyage;  the  engineer,  Mr.  Jones,  con- 
sented to  go  with  him  and  a  courageous  machinist  by  the  name 
of  Mclntyre  volunteered  to  share  the  risk  with  them.  The  boat 
was  in  complete  trim,  removing  from  deck  and  hold  all  super- 
fluous articles  and  as  notice  was  given  of  the  time  of  starting, 
a  large  number  of  people  assembled  to  watch  the  spectacular 
plunge,  few  expecting  to  see  either  boat  or  crew  again.  About 
three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  June  15,  1861,  the  engineer  took 
his  place  in  the  hold,  and,  knowing  that  their  drifting  would 
be  short  at  the  longest,  and  might  be  only  the  preface  to  a  swift 
destruction,  set  his  steam  valve  at  the  proper  gauge  and  awaited 
— not  without  anxiety — the  tinkling  signal  that  should  start 
them  on  their  flying  voyage.     Mclntyre  joined  Robinson  at  the 


A  Century  of  Niagara  Cranks  145 

wheel  on  the  upper  deck.  Self-possessed,  and  with  the  calmness 
which  results  from  undoubted  courage  and  confidence,  yet 
with  the  humility  which  recognises  all  possibilities,  Robinson 
took  his  place  at  the  wheel  and  pulled  the  starting  bell.  With  a 
shriek  from  her  whistle  and  a  white  puff  from  the  escape-pipe 
to  take  leave,  as  it  were,  of  the  multitude  gathered  at  the  shores, 
she  soon  swung  around  to  the  right,  cleared  the  smooth 
water  and  shot  like  an  arrow  into  the  rapid  under  the  bridge. 
She  took  the  outside  course  of  the  rapid  and  when  a  third  of  the 
way  down  it,  a  jet  of  water  struck  against  her  rudder,  a  column 
dashed  up  under  her  starboard  side,  hurled  her  over,  carried 
away  her  smoke-stack,  threw  Robinson  flat  on  his  back,  and 
thrust  Mclntyre  against  her  starboard  wheel-house  with  such 
a  force  as  to  break  it  through.  The  little  boat  emerged  from 
the  fearful  baptism,  shook  her  wounded  sides,  and  slid  into  the 
Whirlpool  riding  for  the  moment  again  on  an  even  keel.  Robin- 
son rose  at  once,  seized  the  helm,  set  her  to  the  right  of  the  large 
pot  in  the  pool,  then  turned  her  directly  through  the  neck  of  it. 
Thence,  after  receiving  another  drenching  from  its  combing 
waves,  the  craft  dashed  on  without  further  accident  to  the  quiet 
of  the  river  at  Lewiston. 

Thus  was  accomplished  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
and  perilous  voyages  ever  made  by  man ;  the  boat  was 
seventy-two  feet  long  with  seventeen  feet  breadth  of 
beam  and  eight  feet  depth  of  hold,  and  carried  an 
engine  of  one  hundred  horse-power. 

Robinson  stated  after  the  voyage  that  the  greater 
part  of  it  was  like  what  he  had  always  imagined  must 
be  the  swift  sailing  of  a  large  bird  in  a  downward  flight ; 
that  when  the  accident  occurred  the  boat  seemed  to  be 
struck  from  all  directions  at  once,  that  she  trembled  like 
a  fiddlestring  and  felt  as  if  she  would  crumble  away 
and  drop  into  atoms;  that  both  he  and  Mclntyre  were 
holding  to  the  wheel  with  all  their  strength,  but  this 
produced  no  more  effect  than  if  they  had  been  two  flies ; 


146  The  Niagara  River 

that  he  had  no  fear  of  striking  the  rocks,  for  he  knew 
that  the  strongest  suction  must  be  in  the  deepest  chan- 
nels, and  that  the  boat  must  remain  in  that.  Finding 
that  Mclntyre  was  somewhat  bruised  and  bewildered 
by  excitement  on  account  of  his  fall,  and  did  not  rise, 
Robinson  quickly  put  his  foot  on  him  to  keep  him 
from  rolling  round  the  deck,  and  thus  finished  the 
voyage. 

The  effect  of  this  trip  upon  Robinson  was  decidedly  marked. 
To  it,  as  he  lived  but  few  years  afterward,  his  death  was  com- 
monly attributed.  "He  was,"  said  Mrs.  Robinson  in  an  inter- 
view, "twenty  years  older  when  he  came  home  that  day,  than 
when  he  went  out.  He  sank  into  his  chair  like  a  person  overcome 
with  weariness.  He  decided  to  abandon  the  water,  and  advised 
his  sons  to  venture  no  more  about  the  Rapids.  Both  his  manner 
and  appearance  were  changed."  Calm  and  deliberate  before, 
he  became  thoughtful  and  serious  afterwards.  He  had  been 
borne,  as  it  were,  in  the  arms  of  a  power  so  mighty,  that  its 
impress  was  stamped  on  his  features  and  on  his  mind.  Through 
a  slightly  opened  door  he  had  seen  a  vision  which  awed  and 
subdued  him.  He  became  reverent  in  a  moment.  He  grew 
venerable  in  an  hour. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  lengths  unscrupulous  sen- 
sationalists will  go  at  Niagara  to  satisfy  the  curious 
throngs,  in  September,  1883,  several  enterprising  citi- 
zens of  Niagara  Falls  purchased  a  small  boat  which 
they  fitted  up  to  represent  the  Maid  of  the  Mist,  and 
sent  it  through  the  Rapids.  Men  were  stationed  about 
the  boat  in  effigy,  but  no  human  beings  were  allowed 
on  board,  although,  indeed  there  were  many  applica- 
tions for  passage.  The  boat  passed  through  the  Gorge 
in  good  shape. 

On  August  28,  1887,  Charles  Alexander  Percy,  a 
waggon-maker  of  Suspension   Bridge,  went   over   the 


A  Century  of  Niagara  Cranks  147 

Rapids  to  win  fame.  He  had  conceived  the  idea  of 
constructing  a  boat,  and,  having  been  previously  a 
sailor  he  knew  how  to  build  a  staunch  craft.  The 
vessel  was  of  hickory,  seventeen  feet  long  and  four  feet 
ten  and  one-quarter  inches  wide.  It  had  sixty-four 
oak  ribs,  and  an  iron  plate  weighing  three  hundred 
pounds  was  fastened  to  the  bottom.  The  boat  as  com- 
pleted weighed  nine  hundred  pounds,  and  was  covered 
with  white  canvas.  At  3.30  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
on  the  day  mentioned,  Percy,  having  with  great  diffi- 
culty transported  his  craft  to  the  old  Maid  of  the  Mist 
landing  above  the  cantilever  bridge,  took  off  his  coat 
and  waistcoat,  put  them  in  a  valise  and  stowed  it  away 
in  one  of  the  compartments.  Then  he  sat  in  the  middle 
part  of  the  boat,  which  had  no  deck,  rowed  out  into 
the  Niagara,  just  above  the  cantilever,  unshipped  his 
oars  and  fastened  them  to  the  boat  and  then  crawled 
into  one  of  his  air-tight  compartments.  Many  people 
watched  his  white  craft  from  the  bridges  and  banks, 
but  the  excursion  had  not  been  advertised  and  many 
visitors  to  the  Falls  knew  nothing  of  it.  The  boat  shot 
down  toward  the  Whirlpool.  On  the  theory  that  there 
was  an  undercurrent  which  ran  stronger  than  the  sur- 
face current,  Percy  had  attached  a  thirty-pound  weight 
to  a  ten-foot  line,,  which  he  threw  overboard  to  act  as 
a  drag;  this  had  no  apparent  effect;  the  two-mile  trip 
to  the  Whirlpool  occupied  less  than  five  minutes,  and 
while  the  boat  was  submerged  repeatedly,  it  did  not 
turn  over.  When  near  the  Whirlpool  it  drifted  close 
to  the  American  shore,  Percy,  thinking  he  was  in  the 
quiet  water  on  the  further  side  of  the  Whirlpool,  stuck 
out  his  head,  but  closed  the  aperture  just  in  time  to 
escape  a  tremendous  wave.     The  boat  passed  straight 


148  The  Niagara  River 

across  the  Whirlpool,  and  on  the  other  side  Percy 
crawled  out  of  the  compartment,  took  his  oars,  and 
rowed  leisurely  around  to  the  foot  of  the  inclined  rail- 
way on  the  Canadian  side,  where  he  landed,  his  voyage 
having  lasted  twenty-five  minutes.  He  gave  much  the 
same  account  of  the  adventure  as  was  given  by  Graham 
of  barrel  fame,  and  Kendall,  the  Boston  policeman, 
who  swam  into  the  Whirlpool  in  1886.  He  thought 
he  struck  rocks  in  the  passage  down,  but  the  boat 
showed  no  marks. 

Percy  and  a  friend,  William  Dittrick,  repeated  the 
trip  on  September  25,  1887,  through  the  lower  half  of 
the  Gorge  from  the  Whirlpool  to  Lewiston,  having  a 
thrilling  experience.  Dittrick  occupied  one  of  the  air 
compartments,  while  Percy  sat  in  the  cockpit. 

Finally,  on  September  16,  1888,  Percy  again  risked 
his  life  in  making  a  voyage  through  the  waters  of  the 
Gorge  near  Lewiston.  In  this  trip  he  narrowly  escaped 
death  and  the  boat  was  lost. 

Elated  by  his  success,  Percy  now  made  a  wager  with 
Robert  William  Flack  of  Syracuse,  "  for  a  race  through 
the  Whirlpools  in  life-boats  for  five  hundred  dollars  a 
side."  The  race  was  set  for  August  1,  1888,  but  on 
July  4th,  Flack  was  first  to  show  that  his  craft  was  sea- 
worthy. The  boat  was  of  the  clinker  pattern,  had  no 
air-cushions,  and  was  partly  constructed  of  cork.  In 
the  presence  of  an  immense  concourse  of  spectators  it 
went  first  along  gaily,  but  in  three  minutes  the  boat 
was  upset  and  carried  into  the  Whirlpool  bottom 
upwards.  It  was  a  frightful  spectacle,  witnessed  by 
thousands  of  people.  The  boat  capsized  three  times; 
the  last  time  it  tossed  high  in  the  air.  It  stood  on  end  for 
an  instant  and  then  it  toppled  over  on  poor  Flack,  who 


■  f  lit' 


i  «»r 


:i  h 


ll     3 


<! 

cd 

to 


If 


A  Century  of  Niagara  Cranks  149 

was  strapped  to  the  boat  helpless  and  floated  about  the 
pool  upside  down  for  about  an  hour,  until  captured  on 
the  Canadian  side.  Flack's  body  was  only  a  mass  of 
bruised  flesh.  Percy  meantime,  having  witnessed  the 
tragedy  from  the  American  side,  jumped  into  a  trap, 
and  drove  to  the  Whirlpool  on  the  Canadian  side  where, 
throwing  off  his  clothes,  he  leaped  into  the  river  and 
swam  for  the  boat  which  was  now  approaching  the 
shore.  But  he  was  too  late.  His  courageous  feat 
could  not  help  Flack,  who  was  found  dead,  hanging  on 
the  straps  he  had  placed  there  to  aid  him  to  save  his  life. 

In  1889  Walter  G.  Campbell  tried  to  make  the  peril- 
ous trip  in  an  open,  flat-bottomed  boat,  which  he 
launched  above  the  Rapids.  His  only  companion  was 
a  black  dog.  Campbell,  with  a  life-preserver  about 
his  body,  stood  up,  using  his  oar  as  a  paddle,  and  boldly 
drifted  with  increasing  speed  toward  the  seething  pool. 
The  trip  took  about  twenty  minutes,  but,  fortunately, 
the  boat  capsized  before  the  worst  water  was  reached, 
and  Campbell  just  managed  to  struggle  to  the  shore. 
The  poor  black  dog  paid  the  penalty  of  his  master's  folly. 

Peter  Nissen,  of  Chicago,  made  a  successful  trip 
through  the  Whirlpool  Rapids  of  Niagara  on  July  9, 
1900,  being  the  first  man  to  go  through  in  an  open  boat 
and  come  out  unharmed.  He  entered  the  Rapids  at 
5  p.m.,  the  boat  gliding  down  easily  bow  first,  entering 
the  first  wave  end  on,  and  going  partly  over  and  partly 
under  the  water,  drenched  its  occupant  completely. 
The  second  wave  struck  him  with  terrific  force  almost 
broadside,  the  boat  being  partly  turned  by  the  first 
wave,  smashing  Nissen  against  the  cockpit,  knocking 
off  his  hat  and  nearly  smothering  him.  A  moment 
later  he  entered  the  frightful  mass  of  warring  waters 


150  The  Niagara  River 


opposite  the  Whirlpool  Rapids  station,  and  for  a  few 
moments  it  looked  as  though  his  end  had  come,  the 
boat  being  tossed  with  terrific  force  out  of  the  water, 
broadside  up,  the  iron  keel,  weighing  1250  pounds, 
being  plainly  seen.  Boat  and  occupant  then  disap- 
peared altogether,  not  being  again  seen  for  several 
seconds  until  the  worst  was  feared.  Suddenly  both 
man  and  boat  reappeared  farther  down  the  stream, 
and  the  hundreds  of  onlookers  gave  vent  to  their  feel- 
ings in  cheers.  The  hardy  navigator  now  went  under 
the  waters  again  receiving  a  crushing  blow  as  he  en- 
tered every  succeeding  wave  when  the  staunch  craft 
and  its  master  raced  into  the  Whirlpool.  But  Nissen 
was  not  yet  safe.  Having  no  means  of  guiding  or  pro- 
pelling the  boat,  Nissen  was  compelled  to  sit  in  the 
water  in  the  cockpit  for  fifty  minutes,  being  carried 
around  the  Whirlpool  four  times.  Once  the  boat  ap- 
proached the  vortex  and  was  sucked  down  about  half 
its  length,  the  other  half  standing  out  of  the  water  in 
an  almost  vertical  position.  It  was  immediately  thrown 
out,  however,  and  resumed  its  course  around  the  pool. 
When  at  the  farther  end,  where  the  current  has  the  least 
strength  the  boat  then  being  about  fifty  feet  from  shore, 
three  young  men  swam  out  with  a  rope  and  fastened  it 
to  the  boat,  which  was  then  drawn  in  by  very  willing 
hands.  Nissen,  when  questioned,  said  he  was  not  in- 
jured in  the  least,  only  feeling  cold  and  weak.  He  was 
stripped  and  given  dry  clothing,  and  he  then  declared 
he  felt  all  right.  In  making  the  trip  he  wore  his  usual 
clothing,  pulling  on  an  ordinary  life-preserver  to  aid  him 
if  he  should  be  thrown  out.  He  did  not  intend  to  fasten 
himself  in  the  boat,  but  at  the  last  moment  passed  a 
rope  over  his  shoulder,  which  probably  saved  his  life. 


A  Century  of  Niagara  Cranks  151 

The  boat,  which  he  had  named  the  Fool-Killer,  was 
twenty  feet  long,  four  feet  wide,  and  four  feet  deep. 
The  deck  was  slightly  raised  in  the  centre,  gently  slop- 
ing to  the  gunwales.  In  the  centre  of  the  deck  a  cockpit 
four  feet  long  and  twenty  inches  wide  extended  down 
to  the  keel,  a  distance  of  four  feet.  The  side-planking 
of  the  cockpit  was  carried  above  the  deck,  forming  a 
combing  six  inches  in  height ;  six  water-tight  compart- 
ments were  built  in  the  boat,  two  at  each  end  and  one  on 
each  side  of  the  cockpit ;  three  hundred  pounds  of  cork 
were  also  used,  so  that  the  boat  was  unsinkable.  The 
main  feature  of  the  boat  was  the  keel.  This  was  a  shaft 
of  round  iron,  four  inches  in  diameter  and  twenty  feet 
long,  hanging  two  feet  below  the  bottom  of  the 
boat,  and  held  in  position  by  five  one-inch  iron  bars. 

Our  record  of  sensationalism  at  Niagara  would  be 
lacking  in  fulness,  at  least,  if  mention  were  not  made 
of  the  many  gruesome  suicides  that  have  occurred  here, 
but  we  forbear.  A  story  of  what  a  dog  endured,  how- 
ever, is  quite  in  place: 

A  large  dog  lately  survived  the  passage  over  Niagara  Falls 
and  through  the  rapids  to  the  whirlpool.  He  was  first  noticed 
while  he  was  within  the  influence  of  the  upper  rapids.  As  he 
was  whirled  rapidly  down  over  the  Falls,  every  one  imagined 
that  that  was  the  last  of  him.  Shortly  afterwards,  however,  he 
was  discovered  in  the  gorge  below  the  Falls  vainly  endeavouring 
to  clamber  up  upon  some  of  the  debris  from  the  remains  of  the 
great  ice  bridge  which  recently  covered  the  water  at  this  point, 
but  which  had  nearly  all  gone  down  the  river.  The  news  spread 
rapidly  through  the  village,  and  a  large  crowd  gathered  at  the 
shore.  Strenuous  efforts  were  made  to  get  the  struggling  animal 
on  shore,  for  an  animal  which  had  gone  safely  over  the  Falls  would 
be  a  prize  worth  having,  but  without  success.  Finally  the  dog 
succeeded  in  getting  upon  a  large  cake  of  ice,  and  floated  off  upon 
it  down  towards  Suspension  Bridge  and  the  terrible  Whirlpool 


1^2 


The  Niagara  River 


Rapids.  Information  of  the  dog's  coming  was  telephoned  to 
Suspension  Bridge  village,  and  a  large  crowd  collected  on  the 
bridge  to  watch  for  the  coming  wonder.  In  due  time  the  poor 
fellow  appeared  upon  his  ice-cake,  howling  dismally  the  while, 
as  if  he  appreciated  the  terrors  of  his  situation.  An  express- 
train  crossing  the  bridge  at  the  time  stopped  in  order  to  let 
the  passengers  witness  the  unusual  spectacle.  Round  and  round 
whirled  the  cake,  in  a  dizzy  way,  and  louder  and  more  prolonged 
grew  the  howls  of  the  poor  dog.  As  the  influence  of  the  Whirl- 
pool Rapids  began  to  be  felt,  the  cake  increased  in  speed,  whirled 
suddenly  into  the  air,  broke  in  two,  and  the  dog  disappeared 
from  view.  No  one  thought  that  he  could  possibly  survive  the 
wild  rush  through  the  rapids.  When,  therefore,  word  was  re- 
ceived that  the  dog  was  in  the  whirlpool,  still  living,  and  once 
more  struggling  vainly  to  swim  to  land,  it  was  received  with 
marked  incredulity.  This  story  was  substantiated  by  several 
trustworthy  witnesses.  It  seems  incredible  that  an  animal 
could  go  through  the  upper  rapids,  over  the  Falls,  through  the 
Gorge,  through  the  Whirlpool  Rapids,  and  into  the  whirlpool 
itself,  a  distance  of  several  miles,  and  still  be  alive.  The  poor 
animal  perished  in  the  whirlpool. 

In  various  instances  dogs  have  been  sent  over  the 
Falls  and  survived  the  plunge. 

As  early  as  November,  1836,  a  troublesome  female 
bull-terrier  was  put  in  a  coffee  sack  by  a  couple  of  men 
who  had  determined  to  get  rid  of  her,  and  thrown  off 
from  the  middle  of  Goat  Island  Bridge.  In  the  follow- 
ing spring  she  was  found  alive  and  well  about  sixty 
rods  below  the  Ferry,  having  lived  through  the  winter 
on  a  deceased  cow  that  was  thrown  over  the  bank 
the  previous  fall.  In  1858,  another  dog,  a  male  of  the 
same  breed,  was  thrown  into  the  Rapids,  also  near 
the  middle  of  the  bridge.  In  less  than  an  hour  he 
came  up  the  Ferry  stairs,  very  wet  and  not  at  all 
gay.     He  was  ever  after  a  sadder,  if  not  a  better  dog. 


Chapter  VII 
The  Old  Niagara  Frontier 

WHAT  has  been  loosely  called  the  "Niagara 
Frontier"  embraces  all  the  beautiful 
stretch  of  territory  south  of  Lakes  Onta- 
rio and  Erie,  extending  westward  quite 
to  Cleveland,  the  Forest  City  on  the  latter  lake.  It 
would  be  difficult  to  point  to  a  tract  of  country  in  all 
America  the  history  of  which  is  of  more  inherent  inter- 
est than  this  far-flung  old-time  frontier  of  which  the 
Niagara  River  was  the  strategic  key.  The  beautiful 
cities  now  standing  here,  Buffalo,  Cleveland,  and  To- 
ronto, as  well  as  the  ancient  Falls,  forever  new  and 
wonderful,  bring  to  this  fair  country,  in  large  volume, 
the  modern  note  that  would  drown  the  memory  of  the 
long  ago;  but  here,  as  elsewhere,  and  particularly  here, 
the  Indian  left  his  names  upon  the  rivers  and  the  shores 
of  the  lakes,  beautiful  names  that  will  neither  die  nor 
permit  the  days  of  Iroquois,  Eries,  and  Hurons  to  pass 
forgotten. 

Historically,  the  Niagara  frontier  is  memorable, 
firstly,  because  it  embraced  in  part  the  homes  and  hunt- 
ing-grounds of  the  Six  Nations,  the  pre-eminent  Indian 
confederacy  of  the  continent.  The  French  name  for 
the  confederacy  was  Iroquois;  their  own,  "Ho-de-no- 
sote,"  or  the  "Long  House,"  which  extended  from  the 
Hudson  to  Lake  Erie  and  from  the  St.  Lawrence  to 

153 


154  The  Niagara  River 

the  valleys  of  the  Delaware,  Susquehanna,  and  Alle- 
gheny. This  domain  was  divided  between  the  several 
nations  by  well-defined  boundary  lines,  called  "lines 
of  i  >roperty . ' '  The  famous  Senecas  were  on  the  Niagara 
frontier. 

In  this  pleasant  land  the  Iroquois  dwelt  in  palisaded 
villages  upon  the  fertile  banks  of  the  lakes  and  streams 
which  watered  their  country.  Their  houses  were  built 
within  a  protecting  circle  of  palisades,  and,  like  all  the 
tribes  of  the  Iroquois  family,  were  long  and  narrow, 
not  more  than  twelve  or  fifteen  feet  in  width,  but  often 
exceeding  one  hundred  and  fifty  in  length.  They  were 
made  of  two  parallel  rows  of  poles  stuck  upright  in  the 
ground,  of  sufficient  widths  at  the  bottom  to  form  the 
floor,  and  bent  together  at  the  top  to  form  the  roof ;  the 
whole  was  entirely  covered  with  strips  of  peeled  bark. 
At  each  end  of  the  long  house  was  a  strip  of  bark  or  a 
bear  skin  hung  loosely  for  a  door.  Within,  they  built 
their  fires  at  intervals  along  the  centre  of  the  floor,  the 
smoke  rising  through  the  opening  in  the  top,  which 
served,  as  well,  to  let  in  light.  In  every  house  were 
fires  and  many  families,  and  every  family  having  its 
own  fire  within  the  space  allotted  to  it. 

Among  all  the  Indians  of  the  New  World,  there  were 
none  so  politic  and  intelligent,  none  so  fierce  and  brave, 
none  with  so  many  heroic  virtues  mingled  with  savagery, 
as  the  people  of  the  Long  House.  They  were  a  terror 
to  all  the  surrounding  tribes,  whether  of  their  own  or  of 
Algonquin  speech.  In  1650  they  overran  the  country 
of  the  Huron;  in  1651  they  destroyed  the  neutral 
nation  along  the  Niagara;  in  1652  they  exterminated  the 
Eries.  They  knew  every  war-path  and  "their  war-cry 
was  heard  westward  to  the  Mississippi  and  southward 


o 


a, 


o 
v 


.<,..  ■ 


The  Old  Niagara  Frontier  155 

to  the  great  gulf."  They  were,  in  fact,  the  conquerors 
of  the  New  World,  perhaps  not  unjustly  styled  the 
"Romans  of  the  West."  Wrote  the  Jesuit  Father  Ra- 
gueneau,  in  1650,  "My  pen  has  no  ink  black  enough  to 
describe  the  fury  of  the  Iroquois."  In  1715,  the  Tus- 
caroras,  a  branch  of  the  Iroquois  family,  in  the  Caro- 
linas,  united  with  the  Five  Nations,  after  which  the 
confederacy  was  known  as  the  Six  Nations,  of  which  the 
other  five  tribes  were  named  in  order  of  their  rank, 
Mohawks,  Onondagas,  Senecas,  Oneidas,  and  Cayugas. 
Iroquois  government  was  vested  in  a  general  council 
composed  of  fifty  hereditary  sachems,  but  the  order  of 
succession  was  always  in  the  female  and  never  in  the 
male  line.  Each  nation  was  divided  into  eight  clans 
or  tribes.  The  spirit  of  the  animal  or  bird  after  which 
the  clan  was  named,  called  its  "  To-tem,"  was  the  guard- 
ian spirit  of  the  clan,  and  every  member  used  its  figure 
in  his  signature  as  his  device.  It  was  the  rule  that 
men  and  women  of  the  same  tribe  could  intermarry. 
In  this  manner  relationships  were  interlocked  forever 
by  the  closest  of  ties.  The  name  of  each  sachemship 
was  permanent.  When  a  sachem  died  the  people  of  the 
league  selected  the  most  competent  from  among  those  of 
his  family,  who  by  right  inherited  the  title,  and  the  one 
so  chosen  was  raised  in  solemn  council  to  the  high 
honour,  and  dropping  his  own  received  the  name  of 
the  sachemship.  Two  sachemships,  however,  after  the 
death  of  the  original  sachems  ever  remained  vacant, 
those  of  the  Onondagas  and  "  Ha-yo-went-ha "  (Hi-a- 
wat-ha)  immortalised  by  Longfellow,  of  the  Mohawks. 
Daganoweda  was  the  founder  of  the  league,  whose  head 
was  represented  as  covered  with  tangled  serpents; 
Hi-a-wat-ha  (meaning  "he  who  combs")  put  the  head 


156  The  Niagara  River 

in  order  and  this  aided  the  formation  of  the  league. 
In  honour  of  these  great  services  this  sachemship  was 
afterward  held  vacant. 

The  entire  body  of  sachems  formed  the  council 
league;  their  authority  was  civil,  confined  to  affairs  of 
peace,  and  was  advisory  rather  than  otherwise.  Every 
member  of  the  confederacy  followed,  to  a  great  extent, 
the  dictates  of  his  own  will,  controlled  very  much  by 
the  customs  of  his  people  and  "a  sentiment  that  ran 
through  their  whole  system  of  affairs  which  was  as 
inflexible  as  iron." 

The  character  of  the  Iroquois  confederacy  has  a 
bearing  on  the  history  of  the  Niagara  country  of  prime 
importance;  while  their  immediate  seats  were  some- 
what south  of  Niagara  River  itself,  they  were  the  red 
masters  of  the  eastern  Great  Lake  region  when  white 
men  came  to  know  it,  conquering,  as  we  have  noted, 
the  earlier  red  races,  the  Eries  and  Neutrals,  who  lived 
beside  Lake  Erie  and  the  Niagara  River.  Of  these  very 
little  is  known;  placed  between  the  Iroquois  on  the 
South  and  the  Hurons  on  the  North  both  are  accounted 
to  have  been  fierce  and  brave  peoples,  for  a  long  time 
able  to  withstand  the  savage  inroads  of  the  people  of 
the  Long  House.  The  Eries  occupied  the  territory 
just  south  of  Lake  Erie,  while  the  Neuter  or  Neutral 
towns  lay  on  the  north  side  of  the  lake — stretching  up 
perhaps  near  to  Niagara  Falls.  They  claimed  the  ter- 
ritory lying  west  of  the  Genesee  River,  and  extending 
northward  to  the  Huron  land  about  Georgian  Bay  as 
their  hunting-ground,  and  could,  it  was  affirmed  by 
Jesuits,  number  twelve  thousand  souls  or  four  thousand 
fighting  men  in  1641,  only  a  decade  before  annihilation 
by  the  southern  foe. 


The  Old  Niagara  Frontier  157 

Although  the  French  applied  to  them  the  name  of  "neuter" 
[writes  Marshall,  the  historian  of  the  Niagara  frontier],  it  was 
always  an  allusion  to  their  neutrality  between  the  Hurons  and 
the  Iroquois.  These  contending  nations  traversed  the  territories 
of  the  Neutral  Nation  in  their  wars  against  each  other,  and  if, 
by  chance,  they  met  in  the  wigwams  or  villages  of  this  people, 
they  were  forced  to  restrain  their  animosity  and  to  separate  in 
peace. 

Notwithstanding  this  neutrality,  they  waged  cruel 
wars  with  other  nations,  toward  whom  they  exercised 
cruelties  even  more  inhuman  than  those  charged  upon 
their  savage  neighbours.  The  early  missionaries  de- 
scribe their  customs  as  similar  to  those  of  the  Hurons, 
their  land  as  producing  Indian  corn,  beans ,  and 
squashes  in  abundance,  their  rivers  as  abounding  in 
fish  of  endless  variety,  and  their  forests  as  filled  with 
animals  yielding  the  richest  furs. 

They  exceeded  the  Hurons  in  stature,  strength,  and 
symmetry  of  form,  and  wore  their  dress  with  a  superior 
grace,  and  regarded  their  dead  with  peculiar  affection; 
hence  arose  a  custom  which  is  worthy  of  notice,  and  ex- 
plains the  origin  of  the  numerous  burial  mounds  which 
are  scattered  over  this  vicinity.  Instead  of  burying 
the  bodies  of  their  deceased  friends,  they  deposited 
them  in  houses  or  on  scaffolds  erected  for  the  purpose. 
They  collected  the  skeletons  from  time  to  time  and 
arranged  them  in  their  dwellings,  in  anticipation  of  the 
feast  of  the  dead,  which  occurred  once  in  ten  or  twelve 
years.  On  this  occasion  the  whole  nation  repaired  to 
an  appointed  place,  each  family,  with  the  greatest 
apparent  affection,  bringing  the  bones  of  their  deceased 
relatives  enveloped  in  the  choicest  furs. 

The  final  disruption  between  Neuters  and  Senecas 


158  The  Niagara  River 

came,  it  would  seem,  in  1648,  in  the  shape  of  a  challenge 
sent  by  the  latter  and  accepted;  the  war  raged  until 
1 65 1,  when  two  whole  villages  of  Neuters  were  de- 
stroyed, the  largest  containing  more  than  sixteen  hun- 
dred men.  Father  Fremin  in  1669  found  Neuters  still 
living  in  captivity  in  Gannogarae,  a  Seneca  town  east 
of  the  Genesee.  Some  two  years  later,  seemingly  by 
accident,  a  rupture  between  Senecas  and  Eries,  farther 
to  the  westward,  took  place,  resulting  in  a  similar 
Seneca  victory;  thus  the  Iroquois  came  to  be  the 
masters  of  the  Niagara  country. 

What  this  meant  becomes  very  evident  with  the 
advance  of  France  to  this  old-time  key  of  the  conti- 
nent; here  lay  the  strongest,  most  civilised  Indian 
nations,  conquerors  of  half  a  continent ;  what  the  friend- 
ship of  the  Iroquois  meant  to  these  would-be  white 
conquerors  of  the  self-same  empire  no  words  could 
express;  as  we  have  noted,  the  Niagara  River  was  the 
direct  passageway  to  the  Mississippi  basin.  It  is  one 
of  the  most  interesting  caprices  of  Fate  that  France 
should  have  been  given  the  great  waterway — key  of 
the  continent;  now,  with  a  friendly  alliance  with  the 
Six  Nations  the  progress  of  French  arms  could  hardly 
be  challenged.  But  France,  in  the  early  hours  of  her 
progress,  and  by  the  hand  of  her  best  friend  and  wisest 
champion,  Champlain,  incurred  the  inveterate  hatred 
of  these  powerful  New  York  confederates.  This  he 
did  in  1609  by  joining  a  war-party  of  Algonquins  of  the 
lower  St.  Lawrence  region  on  one  of  their  memorable 
raids  into  the  Iroquois  country  by  way  of  the  Richelieu 
River  and  Lake  Champlain.  Dr.  Bourinot,1  perhaps 
most  clearly  of  all,   has  explained  Champlain 's  own 

1  Canada,  p.  72,  Story  of  the  Nations  Series. 


The  Old  Niagara  Frontier  159 

comprehension  of  the  matter  by  saying  that  the  domi- 
nating purpose  of  his  life  in  New  France  was  the  explor- 
ation of  the  vast  region  from  which  came  the  sweeping 
tides  of  the  St.  Lawrence;  supposing,  naturally,  that 
the  Canadian  red  men  were  to  be  eventually  the  victors 
in  the  ancient  war,  especially  if  aided  by  the  govern- 
ment of  New  France,  it  was  politic  for  Champlain  to 
espouse  their  cause  since  no  general  scheme  of  explora- 
tion "could  have  been  attempted  had  he  by  any  cold 
or  unsympathetic  conduct  alienated  the  Indians  who 
guarded  the  waterways  over  which  he  had  to  pass 
before  he  could  unveil  the  mysteries  of  the  Western 
wilderness." 

In  June  this  eventful  invasion  of  the  Iroquois  coun- 
try was  undertaken,  and  on  the  last  day  of  July  but 
one,  near  what  was  to  become  the  historic  site  of  Fort 
Ticonderoga,  a  pitched  battle  was  fought.  Champlain's 
own  account  of  this  the  first  decisive  battle  of  America 
cannot  be  excelled  in  its  quaint  and  picturesque  sim- 
plicity : 

At  night  [he  wrote]  we  embarked  in  our  canoes,  and,  as 
we  were  advancing  noiselessly  onward,  we  encountered  a  party 
of  Iroquois  at  the  point  of  a  cape  which  juts  into  the  lake  on 
the  west  side.  It  was  on  the  twenty-ninth  of  the  month  and 
about  ten  o'clock  at  night.  They,  as  well  as  we,  began  to  shout, 
seizing  our  arms.  We  withdrew  to  the  water,  and  the  Iroquois 
paddled  to  the  shore,  arranged  their  canoes,  and  began  to  hew 
down  trees  with  villainous-looking  axes  and  fortified  themselves 
very  securely.  Our  party  kept  their  canoes  alongside  of  the 
other,  tied  to  poles,  so  as  not  to  run  adrift,  in  order  to  fight  all 
together  if  need  be.  When  everything  was  arranged  they  sent 
two  canoes  to  know  if  their  enemies  wished  to  fight.  They 
answered  that  they  desired  nothing  else  but  that  there  was  not 
then  light  enough  to  distinguish  each  other  and  that  they  would 


i6o  The  Niagara  River 

fight  at  sunrise.  This  was  agreed  to.  On  both  sides  the  night 
was  spent  in  dancing,  singing,  mingled  with  insults  and  taunts. 
Thus  they  sang,  danced,  and  insulted  each  other  until  daybreak. 
My  companions  and  I  were  concealed  in  separate  canoes  belong- 
ing to  the  savage  Montagnoes.  After  being  equipped  with  light 
armour,  each  of  us  took  an  arquebus  and  went  ashore.  I  saw 
the  enemy  leaving  their  barricade.  They  were  about  two  hundred 
men,  strong  and  robust,  who  were  coming  toward  us  with  a 
gravity  and  assurance  that  greatly  pleased  me,  led  on  by  three 
chiefs.  Ours  were  marching  in  similar  order,  and  told  me  that 
those  who  bore  the  three  lofty  plumes  were  chiefs  and  that  I 
must  do  all  I  could.  The  moment  we  landed  they  began  to  run 
toward  the  enemy,  who  stood  firm  and  had  not  yet  perceived  my 
companions  who  went  into  the  bush  with  some  savages.  Ours 
commenced  calling  me  with  a  loud  voice,  opening  the  way  for 
me  and  placing  me  at  their  head,  about  twenty  paces  in  advance, 
until  I  was  about  thirty  paces  from  the  enemy.  The  moment 
they  saw  me  they  halted,  gazing  at  me  and  I  at  them.  When  I 
saw  them  preparing  to  shoot  at  us,  I  raised  my  arquebus,  and 
aiming  directly  at  one  of  the  chiefs,  two  of  them  fell  to  the 
ground  by  this  shot,  and  one  of  their  companions  received  a 
wound  of  which  he  died  afterwards.  I  had  put  four  balls  into 
my  arquebus.  Ours,  on  witnessing  a  shot  so  favourable  to  them, 
set  up  such  tremendous  shouts  that  thunder  could  not  have  been 
heard,  and  yet  there  was  no  lack  of  arrows  on  the  one  side  or 
the  other.  The  Iroquois  were  greatly  astonished  at  seeing  two 
men  killed  so  instantaneously,  notwithstanding  that  they  were 
provided  with  arrow-proof  armour  woven  of  cotton  thread  and 
wood.    This  frightened  them  very  much. 

Whilst  I  was  unloading,  one  of  my  companions  fired  a  shot 
which  so  astonished  them  anew,  seeing  their  chiefs  slain,  that 
they  lost  courage,  took  to  flight,  and  abandoned  the  field  and 
their  fort,  hiding  in  the  depths  of  the  forest,  whither  pursuing 
them  I  killed  some  others.  Our  savages  also  killed  several  of 
them  and  took  ten  or  twelve  of  them  prisoners.  The  rest  carried 
off  the  wounded.    These  were  promptly  treated. 

After  having  gained  this  victory,  our  party  amused  them- 
selves plundering  Indian  corn  and  meal  from  the  enemy,  and 


Champlain. 


The  Old  Niagara  Frontier  161 

also  their  arms  which  they  had  thrown  away  the  better  to  run. 
And  having  feasted,  danced,  and  sung,  we  returned  three  hours 
afterwards  with  the  prisoners. 1 

No  victory  could  have  been  so  costly  as  this;  indeed, 
one  is  led  to  wonder  whether  any  battle  in  America  ever 
cost  more  lives  than  this;  for  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years  and  forty-five  days,  or  until  the  fall  of  Quebec  and 
New  France,  this  strongest  of  Indian  nations  remem- 
bered Champlain,  and  was  the  implacable  enemy  of 
the  French;  and,  what  was  of  singular  ill-fortune,  these 
very  Iroquois,  in  addition  to  holding  the  key  of  the 
West  in  their  grasp,  lay  exactly  between  the  French  and 
their  English  rivals  at  the  point  of  nearest  and  most  vital 
contact.  After  the  Ticonderoga  victory  an  Iroquois 
prisoner,  previous  to  being  burned  at  the  stake,  chanted 
a  song;  wrote  the  humane  Champlain,  "the  song  was 
sad  to  hear."  For  a  century  and  a  half  sad  songs  were 
sung  by  descendants  of  those  Algonquin  and  French 
victors  who  listened  in  the  wavering  light  of  that  cruel 
fire  to  the  song  of  the  captive  from  the  land  of  Long 
Houses  below  the  Lakes!  True,  the  Iroquois  and  the 
French  were  not  continually  at  war  through  this  long 
series  of  years;  and  French  blandishments  had  their 
effect,  sometimes,  even  on  their  immemorial  foe, 
especially  at  the  Seneca  end  of  the  Long  House, 
nearest  Niagara. 

Six  years  later,  in  1615,  Champlain  set  out  on  his 
most  important  tour  of  western  discovery,  largely  for 
the  purpose  of  fulfilling  a  promise  made  to  one  of  his 
lieutenants  on  the  upper  Ottawa  to  assist  him  in  the 
continual  quarrel  between  the  Hurons  to  the  northward 

1  A  very  excellent  account  of  the  battle  of  Lake  Champlain  is  found  in 
The  St.  Lawrence  River,  Ch.  vi.,  by  George  Waldo  Browne. 


1 62  The  Niagara  River 


&' 


and  the  Iroquois.  Here  again  is  forced  upon  our  atten- 
tion one  of  the  most  important  sequences  of  the  battle 
of  Lake  Champlain.  The  two  routes  to  the  Great 
Lakes  of  Montreal  were  by  the  St.  Lawrence  River  and 
by  the  Ottawa  River.  Either  route  the  voyage  was 
long  and  difficult,  but  by  the  Ottawa  the  voyageur 
came  into  the  "back  door"  of  the  Lakes,  Georgian  Bay, 
by  a  taxing  portage  route;  while,  once  stemming  the 
St.  Lawrence,  Lake  Ontario  was  gained  and,  with  the 
Niagara  portage  accomplished  the  traveller  was  afloat 
on  Lake  Erie  beyond  which  the  waterway  lay  fair  and 
clear  to  the  remotest  corner  of  Superior.  But  the  St. 
Lawrence'led  into  the  Iroquois  frontier,  and  the  Ottawa 
to  the  country  of  the  French  allies,  the  Hurons.  The 
result  was  that,  to  a  great  extent,  French  movement 
followed  the  northerly  course;  no  one  could  bring  this 
out  more  clearly  than  Hinsdale  and  those  whom  he 
quotes : 

[The  Iroquois]  turned  the  Frenchmen  aside  from  the  St. 
Lawrence  and  the  Lower  Lakes  to  the  Ottawa  and  Nipissing ; 
they  ruined  the  fur  trade  "which  was  the  life-blood  of  New 
France ' ' ;  they  "  made  all  her  early  years  a  misery  and  a  terror ' ' ; 
they  retarded  the  growth  of  Absolutism  until  Liberty  was  equal 
to  the  final  struggle;  and  they  influence  our  national  history 
to  this  day,  since  "populations  formed  in  the  ideas  and  habits 
of  a  feudal  monarchy,  and  controlled  by  a  hierarchy  profoundly 
hostile  to  freedom  of  thought,  would  have  remained  a  hindrance 
and  a  stumbling-block  in  the  way  of  that  majestic  experiment 
of  which  America  is  the  field. " l 

Two  insignificant  historical  facts  illustrate  this 
power  exerted  on  westward  movement  from  Canada: 
Lake  Erie  was  not  discovered  until  half  a  century  after 

1  The  Old  Northwest,  p.  25.     A  novel,  The  Road  to  Frontenac ,  presents  a 
clear  picture  of  French-Iroquois  hostility  on  the  St.  Lawrence. 


The  Old  Niagara  Frontier  163 

Lake  Superior,  in  fact  was  practically  unknown  even 
for  fifty  years  after  Detroit  was  founded  in  1701. 

From  the  rendezvous  in  the  Huron  country  this 
second  army  of  invasion,  at  the  head  of  which  rode 
Champlain,  set  out  for  the  Iroquois  land,  to  carry  fire 
and  sword  to  the  homes  of  the  enemy  and  forge  so  much 
the  more  firmly  the  chains  of  prejudice  and  hatred. 
Crossing  Lake  Ontario  at  its  western  extremity  the 
march  was  taken  up  from  a  point  near  Sacketts  Har- 
bour for  the  Onondaga  fort,  which  was  located, 
probably,  a  few  miles  south  of  Lake  Oneida. 

The  importance  of  the  campaign  on  the  Niagara 
frontier  history  is  sufficient  for  us  to  include  again 
Champlain 's  account  of  it: 

We  made  about  fourteen  leagues  in  crossing  to  the  other  side 
of  the  Lake,  in  a  southerly  direction,  towards  the  territories  of 
the  enemy.  The  Indians  concealed  all  their  canoes  in  the  woods 
near  the  shore.  We  made  by  land  about  four  leagues  over 
a  sandy  beach,  where  I  noticed  a  very  agreeable  and  beautiful 
country,  traversed  by  many  small  streams,  and  two  small  rivers 
which  empty  into  the  said  Lake.  Also  many  ponds  and  meadows, 
abounding  in  an  infinite  variety  of  game,  numerous  vines,  and 
fine  woods,  a  great  number  of  chestnut  trees,  the  fruit  of  which 
was  yet  in  its  covering.  Although  very  small,  it  was  of  good 
flavour.  All  the  canoes  being  thus  concealed,  we  left  the  shore 
of  the  Lake,  which  is  about  eighty  leagues  long  and  twenty-five 
wide,  the  greater  part  of  it  being  inhabited  by  Indians  along  its 
banks,  and  continued  our  way  by  land  about  twenty-five  or 
thirty  leagues.  During  four  days  we  crossed  numerous  streams 
and  a  river  issuing  from  a  lake  which  empties  into  that  of  the 
Entouhonorons .  This  Lake,  which  is  about  twenty-five  or  thirty 
leagues  in  circumference,  contains  several  beautiful  islands,  and 
is  the  place  where  our  Iroquois  enemies  catch  their  fish,  which 
are  there  in  great  abundance.  On  the  9th  of  October,  our  people 
being  on  a  scout,  encountered  eleven  Indians  whom  they  took 


1 64  The  Niagara  River 

prisoners,  namely,  four  women,  three  boys,  a  girl,  and  three  men, 
who  were  going  to  the  fishery,  distant  four  leagues  from  the 
enemies' fort.  ...  The  next  day,  about  three  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon, we  arrived  before  the  fort.  .  .  .  Their  village  was  enclosed 
with  four  strong  rows  of  interlaced  palisades,  composed  of  large 
pieces  of  wood,  thirty  feet  high,  not  more  than  half  a  foot  apart 
and  near  an  unfailing  body  of  water.  .  .  .  We  were  encamped 
until  the  16th  of  the  month,  ...  As  the  five  hundred  men  did 
not  arrive,  the  Indians  decided  to  leave  by  an  immediate  retreat 
and  began  to  make  baskets  in  which  to  carry  the  wounded,  who 
were  placed  in  them  doubled  in  a  heap,  and  so  bent  and  tied  as 
to  render  it  impossible  for  them  to  stir,  any  more  than  an  infant 
in  its  swaddling  clothes,  and  not  without  great  suffering,  as  I 
can  testify,  having  been  carried  several  days  on  the  back  of  one 
of  our  Indians,  thus  tied  and  imprisoned,  which  made  me  lose 
all  patience.  As  soon  as  I  had  strength  to  sustain  myself 
I  escaped  from  this  prison,  or  to  speak  plainly,  from  this 
hell. 

The  enemy  pursued  us  about  half  a  league,  in  order  to  capture 
some  of  our  rear  guard,  but  their  efforts  were  useless  and  they 
withdrew.  .  .  .  The  retreat  was  very  tedious,  being  from  twen- 
ty- five  to  thirty  leagues,  and  greatly  fatigued  the  wounded,  and 
those  who  carried  them,  though  they  relieved  each  other  from 
time  to  time.  On  the  18th  considerable  snow  fell  which  lasted 
but  a  short  time.  It  was  accompanied  with  a  violent  wind, 
which  greatly  incommoded  us.  Nevertheless  we  made  such 
progress,  that  we  reached  the  banks  of  the  lake  of  the  Entou- 
honorons,  at  the  place  where  we  had  concealed  our  canoes,  and 
which  were  found  all  whole.  We  were  apprehensive  that  the 
enemy  had  broken  them  up. 

As  the  roar  of  Niagara  greets  from  afar  the  listening 
ears  of  the  innumerable  host  of  pilgrims  who  come  to 
it  to-day,  so  the  fame  of  the  cataract  reached  the  first 
explorers  of  the  continent  long  before  they  came  to  it, 
indeed  almost  as  soon  as  their  feet  touched  the  shore  of 
the  New  World.     Four  centuries  ago  Niagara  was  the 


Map  of  French  Forts  in  America,  1750-60. 


( 


The  Old  Niagara  Frontier  165 

wonder  of  the  world  as  it  must  be  four  centuries  hence 
and  four  times  four. 

In  May,  1535,  Jacques  Cartier  left  France  on  his 
second  voyage  to  America  in  three  ships ;  reaching  the 
St.  Lawrence,  which  he  so  named  from  the  Saint,  he 
asked  concerning  its  sources  and 

was  told  that,  after  ascending  many  leagues  among  rapids 
and  waterfalls,  he  would  reach  a  lake  140  or  150  leagues  broad, 
at  the  western  extremity  of  which  the  waters  were  wholesome 
and  the  winters  mild;  that  a  river  emptied  into  it  from  the 
south,  which  had  its  source  in  the  country  of  the  Iroquois;  that 
beyond  the  lake  he  would  find  a  cataract  and  portage,  then 
another  lake  about  equal  to  the  former,  which  they  had  never 
explored. 

This  is  the  first  known  mention  of  Niagara  Falls. 
Champlain  mapped  the  Niagara  frontier,  and  his  map 
of  1 613  shows  the  position  of  the  great  Falls;  he  refers 
to  it  only  as  a  "waterfall,"  which  was  "so  very  high 
that  many  kinds  of  fish  are  stunned  in  its  descent." 
He  probably  never  saw  Niagara  but  wrote  his  descrip- 
tion from  hearsay.  During  the  half  century  between 
Champlain 's  Lake  Ontario  tour  and  the  coming  of  La 
Salle  and  Hennepin  the  Niagara  must  have  been  often 
visited  by  the  Catholic  missionaries,  but  few  of  them 
left  mention  of  it. 

In  161 5,  Champlain's  interpreter,  Etienne  Brule, 
was  sent  southward  to  seek  aid  from  the  Andastes  and 
is  lost  to  sight  in  the  western  forests  for  three  years ;  it 
is  possible  that  Brule  even  reached  the  copper  region  of 
Lake  Superior  at  this  time,  and  it  is  fairly  probable  that 
this  intrepid  wanderer,  first  of  all  Frenchmen,  followed 
the  Niagara  River  and  gazed  upon  its  mighty  cataract. 
The  first  knowledge  we  have,  however,  of  a  French- 


1 66  The  Niagara  River 

man's  presence  on  Niagara  River  is  of  Father  Joseph 
de  la  Roche  Dallion,  who  crossed  it  near  Lewiston 
eleven  years  later,  1626.  Nicolet  was  in  the  Straits 
of  Mackinac  and  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie  in  1634,  at  the  time 
that  Champlain  (now  in  the  last  year  of  his  eventful 
life)  founded  Three  Rivers  on  the  St.  Lawrence  above 
Quebec  for  the  defence  of  this  endangered  capital ! 

Father  L'Allemant,  in  his  Relation  of  1640-41,  refers 
to  the  Niagara  River  as  the  Onaguiaahra,  and  calls  it 
the  "celebrated"  river  of  the  Neutral  Nation. 

Montreal  was  founded  in  1642,  simultaneously  with 
the  memorable  capture  of  Father  Jogues,  who  now,  first 
of  Europeans,  passed  through  Lake  George  en  route  to 
the  homes  of  the  merciless  Iroquois.  In  fact  it  was 
Father  Jogues  who  first  named  this  beautiful  sheet  of 
water,  when  he  entered  it  on  the  eve  of  Corpus  Christ  i, 
"Lake  Saint  Sacrament";  Sir  William  Johnson,  at  a 
later  date  rechristened  it  Lake  George.  Jogues  may 
have  heard  the  Niagara  cataract. 

Ragueneau,  writing  to  France  in  1648,  affirmed 
that  "  North  of  the  Eries  is  a  great  lake,  about  two  hun- 
dred leagues  in  circumference,  called  Erie,  formed  by 
the  discharge  of  the  mer-douce,  or  Lake  Huron,  and 
which  falls  into  a  third  lake  called  Ontario,  over  a  cat- 
aract of  frightful  height."  The  description  by  La 
Salle's  Sulpician  companion,  Galinee,  in  1669,  is  the 
most  accurate  of  all  early  accounts.  After  La  Salle's 
visit  to  the  Senecas  the  party  struck  westward  toward 
Niagara. 

We  found  [wrote  Galinee]  a  river,  one-eighth  of  a  league 
broad  and  extremely  rapid,  forming  the  outlet  of  communication 
from  Lake  Erie  to  Lake  Ontario.  The  depth  of  the  river  (for 
it  is  properly  the  St.  Lawrence),  is,  at  this  place  extraordinary, 


The  Old  Niagara  Frontier  167 

for,  on  sounding  close  by  the  shore,  we  found  15  or  16  fathoms 
of  water.  The  outlet  is  40  leagues  long,  and  has,  from  10  to 
12  leagues  above  its  embouchure  into  Lake  Ontario,  one  of 
the  finest  cataracts,  or  falls  of  water,  in  the  world,  for  all  the 
Indians  of  whom  I  have  enquired  about  it,  say,  that  the  river 
falls  at  that  place  from  a  rock  higher  than  the  tallest  pines,  that 
is  about  200  feet.  In  fact  we  heard  it  from  the  place  where  we 
were,  although  from  10  to  12  leagues  distant,  but  the  fall  gives 
such  a  momentum  to  the  water,  that  its  velocity  prevented  our 
ascending  the  current  by  rowing,  except  with  great  difficulty. 
At  a  quarter  of  a  league  from  the  outlet  where  we  were,  it  grows 
narrower,  and  its  channel  is  confined  between  two  very  high, 
steep,  rocky  banks,  inducing  the  belief  that  the  navigation 
would  be  very  difficult  quite  up  to  the  cataract.  As  to  the  river 
above  the  falls,  the  current  very  often  sucks  into  this  gulf,  from 
a  great  distance,  deer  and  stags,  elk  and  roebucks,  that  suffer 
themselves  to  be  drawn  from  such  a  point  in  crossing  the  river, 
that  they  are  compelled  to  descend  the  falls,  and  to  be  over- 
whelmed in  its  frightful  abyss. 

Our  desire  to  reach  the  little  village  called  Ganastogue  Sonono- 
toua  O-tin-a-oua  prevented  our  going  to  view  the  wonder, 
which  I  consider  as  so  much  the  greater  in  proportion  as  the 
river  St.  Lawrence  is  one  of  the  largest  in  the  world.  I  will 
leave  you  to  judge  if  that  is  not  a  fine  cataract  in  which  all  the 
water  of  that  large  river,  having  its  mouth  three  leagues  broad, 
falls  from  a  height  of  200  feet,  with  a  noise  that  is  heard  not  only 
at  the  place  where  we  were,  10  or  12  leagues  distant,  but  also 
from  the  other  side  of  Lake  Ontario,  opposite  its  mouth,  where 
M.  Trouve  told  me  he  had  heard  it. 

We  passed  the  river,  and  finally,  at  the  end  of  five  days' 
travel  arrived  at  the  extremity  of  Lake  Ontario,  where  there  is 
a  fine  large  sandy  bay,  at  the  end  of  which  is  an  outlet  of  another 
small  lake  which  is  there  discharged.  Into  this  our  guide  con- 
ducted us  about  half  a  league,  to  a  point  nearest  the  village,  but 
distant  from  it  some  5  or  6  leagues,  and  where  we  unloaded  our 
canoes. 

The  first  eye-witness  to  describe  Niagara  Falls  was 
Father  Hennepin  who  visited  them  in  the  winter  of 


1 68  The  Niagara  River 

1678-79,  and  made  the  first  pictorial  representation  of 
them. 

Betwixt  the  Lake  Ontario  and  Erie,  there  is  a  vast  and  pro- 
digious Cadence  of  Water  which  falls  down  after  a  surprizing 
and  astonishing  manner,  insomuch  that  the  Universe  does  not 
afford  its  Parallel.  'T  is  true,  Italy  and  Suedeland  boast  of 
some  such  Things;  but  we  may  well  say  they  are  but  sorry 
Patterns,  when  compared  to  this  of  which  we  now  speak.  At 
the  foot  of  this  horrible  Precipice  we  meet  with  the  River 
Niagara,  which  is  not  above  half  a  quarter  of  a  League  broad, 
but  is  wonderfully  deep  in  some  places.  It  is  so  rapid  above  this 
Descent,  that  it  violently  hurries  down  the  Wild  Beasts  while 
endeavouring  to  pass  it,  to  feed  on  the  other  side;  they  not 
being  able  to  withstand  the  force  of  its  Current,  which  in- 
evitably casts  them  down  head-long  above  Six  hundred  foot. l 

This  wonderful  Downfall  is  compounded  of  two  great  Cross- 
streams  of  Water,  and  two  Falls,  with  an  Isle  slopeing  along  the 
middle  of  it.  The  Waters  which  fall  from  this  vast  height  do 
foam  and  boil  after  the  most  hideous  manner  imaginable,  making 
an  outrageous  Noise,  more  terrible  than  that  of  Thunder;  for 
when  the  Wind  blows  from  off  the  South,  their  dismal  roaring 
may  be  heard  above  fifteen  Leagues  off. 

The  River  Niagara  having  thrown  itself  down  this  incredible 
Precipice  continues  its  impetuous  course  for  two  Leagues  to- 
gether, to  the  great  Rock  above-mentioned,  with  an  inexpressible 
Rapidity:  But  having  pass'd  that,  its  Impetuosity  relents, 
gliding  along  more  gently  for  two  Leagues,  till  it  arrives  at  the 
Lake  Ontario  or  Frontenac. 

Any  Barque  or  greater  Vessel  may  pass  from  the  Fort  to  the 
foot  of  this  huge  Rock  above-mention 'd.  This  Rock  lies  to  the 
Westward,  and  is  cut  off  from  the  Land  by  the  River  Niagara, 
about  two  Leagues  farther  down  than  the  great  Fall ;  for  which 

1  Hennepin's  exaggerations  add  a  spice  to  his  marvellous  stories  as  is 
true  of  Arabella  B.  Buckley's  The  Fairyland  of  Science  (p.  122)  wherein 
we  read:  "The  river  Niagara  first  wanders  through  a  flat  country  and 
then  reaches  the  Great  Lake  Erie  in  a  hollow  plain.  After  that  it  flows 
gently  down  for  about  fifteen  miles  and  then  the  slope  becomes  greater  and 
it  rushes  on  to  the  Falls  of  Niagara.  "     Every  age  has  its  Hennepins! 


The  Old  Niagara  Frontier  169 

two  Leagues  the  People  are  oblig'd  to  carry  their  Goods  over- 
land ;  but  the  way  is  very  good,  and  the  Trees  are  but  few,  and 
they  chiefly  Firrs  and  Oaks. 

From  the  great  Fall  unto  this  Rock,  which  is  to  the  West  of 
the  River,  the  two  Brinks  of  it  are  so  prodigious  high,  that  it 
would  make  one  tremble  to  look  steadily  upon  the  Water,  rolling 
along  with  a  Rapidity  not  to  be  imagin'd.  Were  it  not  for  this 
vast  Cataract,  which  interrupts  Navigation,  they  might  sail 
with  barques  or  greater  Vessels,  above  four  hundred  and  fifty 
Leagues  further,  cross  the  Lake  of  Hurons,  and  up  to  the  farther 
end  of  the  Lake  Illinois;  which  two  Lakes,  we  may  well  say, 
are  little  Seas  of  fresh  Water. 

In  1646  Father  Jogues  was  killed  in  the  Long  House, 
and  though  in  1647  eighteen  priests  were  at  work  in  the 
eleven  missions  in  the  West  (most  of  them  in  the  Huron 
country),  the  Iroquois  carried  the  war  to  their  very 
altars,  the  mission  of  St.  Joseph  being  destroyed  and 
the  Hurons,  blasted  as  a  nation,  scattered  to  the  four 
winds  of  heaven.  In  1656  Mohawks  even  descended 
upon  fugitive  Hurons  hovering  about  Quebec  under  the 
very  guns  of  Fort  St.  Louis;  it  is  interesting  to  compare 
these  far-eastwardly  onslaughts  with  the  simultaneous 
far-eastern  progress  of  the  French  explorers,  for,  as  the 
Mohawks  were  falling  upon  Quebec  those  adventurous 
pioneers,  Raddison  and  Grossilliers,  were  (it  is  now 
believed)  on  the  point  of  discovering  the  Mississippi 
River,  which  they  probably  did  in  1659. 

The  plan  of  a  grand  Iroquois  campaign  against  Can- 
ada in  1660  probably  had  its  part  in  the  awakening  of 
the  monarchy  at  home  to  the  real  state  of  affairs  in 
America;  if  New  France  was  to  be  more  than  a  myth 
something  must  now  be  done  or  the  entire  European 
population  of  the  St.  Lawrence — not  yet  numbering 
more  than  two  thousand  souls — might  be  swept  away 


170  The  Niagara  River 

as  were  the  Hurons.  The  energy  of  Louis's  famous 
minister,  Colbert,  is  now  in  evidence  as  Marquis  de 
Tracy,  special  envoy,  appeared  on  the  scene,  as  the  pop- 
ulation of  Canada  doubled  in  a  score  of  months,  the 
Richilieu  was  manned  with  forts  and  an  army  of 
thirteen  hundred  men  invaded  the  Iroquois  country 
and  secured  a  comparatively  lasting  peace. 

A  new  era  dawned,  renewed  spirit  enthused  the 
explorer,  missionary,  coureur-de-bois ,  and  soldier.  In 
1669  the  boldest  man  after  Champlain,  as  Frontenac 
was  the  most  chivalrous,  La  Salle,  crossed  Lake  Ontario 
and  in  the  two  following  years  probably  discovered  and 
followed  the  Ohio,  if  not  the  Mississippi  itself.  In  1671 
the  noblest  soldier  of  the  cross  in  early  American  annals, 
Marquette,  founded  St.  Ignace,  and,  two  years  later,  in 
company  with  Joliet,  found  and  descended  the  "Mis- 
sipi."  Simultaneously,  as  if  to  end  once  for  all  fear  of 
Iroquois  opposition,  Frontenac  erected  the  fort  named 
for  himself  near  the  present  site  of  Kingston,  Canada. 
But  French  activity  proved  a  little  too  successful,  for 
it  not  only  awed  the  Iroquois  but  alarmed  the  English, 
who  had  taken  New  York  from  the  Dutch  nine  years 
before. 

La  Salle  was  in  France  during  1677,  where  he  re- 
ceived letters-patent  concerning  forts  to  be  built  south 
and  west,  in  which  direction  "it  would  seem  a  passage 
to  Mexico  can  be  discovered,"  while  Father  Hennepin, 
soon  to  be  the  great  discoverer's  companion  and  mouth- 
piece, was  among  the  Senecas  near  the  Niagara  frontier 
gaining  a  useful  fund  of  information  for  the  grand  cam- 
paign of  empire  founding  that  La  Salle  had  planned 
with  Fort  Frontenac  as  his  base  of  supplies. 


Chapter  VIII 
From  La  Salle  to  De  Nonville 

RECEIVING  authority  to  explore  the  Mississippi 
to  its  mouth,  as  well  as  a  grant  made  in  1675 
of  Fort  Frontenac  and  surrounding  lands  as 
a  seigniory,  La  Salle  returned  from  France 
in  1678,  and  began  the  wonderful  career  that  will  hand 
his  name  down  through  countless  years  as  the  greatest 
explorer  in  the  annals  of  America.  He  allied  with  him 
Tonty  and  Father  Hennepin,  the  latter  already  known, 
as  we  have  seen,  along  the  Niagara  frontier. 

La  Salle  at  once  advanced  to  Fort  Frontenac,  which 
was  to  be  his  point  of  rendezvous  and  eastern  base  of 
supplies.  His  first  act  was  to  fortify  this  point  strongly 
as  though  already  foreseeing  the  recall  of  the  sturdy 
Frontenac  and  the  consequential  uprising  of  the 
slumbering  Iroquois. 

The  plan  of  Fort  Frontenac  published  by  Faillon 
shows  that  Frontenac's  hasty  palisades  were  replaced 
by  La  Salle  with  hewed  stone  on  at  least  two  landward 
sides,  and  within  were  to  be  found  a  barrack,  bakery, 
and  mill;  by  1780  fourteen  families  replaced  the  four 
lone  habitans  left  at  the  fort  in  1677;  his  improvements 
had  cost  La  Salle  thirty-five  thousand  francs.  In  Park- 
man's  graphic  words  we  see  La  Salle  reigning 

the  autocrat  of  his  lonely  little  empire,  as  feudal  lord  of  the 
forests  around  him,  commander  of  a  garrison  raised  and  paid 

171 


172 


The  Niagara  River 


by  himself,  founder  of  the  mission,  patron  of  the  church.  But 
he  had  no  thought  of  resting  here.  He  had  gained  what  he 
sought,  a  fulcrum  for  bolder  and  broader  action.  His  plans 
were  ripened  and  his  time  was  come.  He  was  no  longer  a  needy 
adventurer,  disinherited  of  all  but  his  fertile  brain  and  his  in- 
trepid heart.  He  had  won  place,  influence,  credit,  and  potent 
friends.  Now,  at  length,  he  might  hope  to  find  the  long-sought 
patli  to  China  and  Japan,  and  secure  for  France  those  boundless 
regions  of  the  west.1 

La  Salle  now  pushed  his  impetuous  campaign,  show- 
ing as  much  foresight  as  daring  in  this  conception.  To 
hold  the  golden  West  in  fee  three  important  projects 
at  once  demanded  attention:  fitting  out  two  ships, 
one  for  Lake  Ontario  and  one  for  the  upper  Niagara 
River  and  the  lakes  from  which  its  waters  came,  and 
the  acquiring  at  some  proper  rendezvous  of  the  first 
invoice  of  furs.  A  brigantine  of  ten  tons  was  building 
simultaneously  with  Fort  Frontenac,  and  in  the  fall  of 
the  year  (1678)  was  ready  for  its  cargo  of  material  for 
a  sister-ship  to  be  built  above  the  great  falls.  A  party 
in  canoes,  carrying  some  six  thousand  francs'  worth  of 
goods,  had  gone  forward  to  the  further  lakes  to  engage 
and  secure  from  the  Indian  tribes  provisions  for  the 
expedition  and  a  consignment  of  furs  for  the  homeward 
voyage. 

On  November  18th,  the  brigantine  with  its  singular 
freight  weighed  anchor  and  sped  from  sight  of  La  Salle 
and  the  watchers  at  Fort  Frontenac;  the  party  was 
under  the  temporal  command  of  Sieur  la  Motte  de  Lus- 
siere  and  the  spiritual  guidance  of  the  famous  historian 
Father  Hennepin,  "who  belonged,"  writes  one  scholar, 
"to  that  class  of  writers  who  speak  the  truth  by  acci- 

1  Discovery  of  the  West,  pp.  1 15-16. 


R.  Rene  Cavelier,  Sieur  De  La  Salle. 


From  La  Salle  to  De  Nonville  173 

dent";  of  him  La  Salle  generously  said  that  he  wrote 
more  in  conformity  to  his  wishes  than  his  knowledge. 
After  a  rough  voyage  this  unknown  craft  entered  "the 
beautiful  river  Niagara,"  as  Hennepin  truthfully  stated, 
on  St.  Nicholas's  Day,  December  6th  and  the  Te  Deum 
Laudamus  was  sung  feelingly  by  the  crew,  which  had 
barely  escaped  shipwreck  near  the  mouth  of  Humber 
River. 

Here,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara  River,  La 
Salle  had  planned  to  build  a  fort  to  bear  the  name  Fort 
Conti  in  honour  of  his  chief  patron,  the  Prince  of  Conti ; 
Lake  Erie  he  had  already  named  Lac  de  Conti.  "  It 
is  situated,"  he  wrote  Conti,  before  it  was  built,  "near 
that  great  cataract,  more  than  a  hundred  and  twenty 
toises  [780  feet]  in  height,  by  which  the  lakes  of  higher 
elevation  precipitate  themselves  into  Lake  Frontenac." 
A  party  of  Senecas  welcomed  the  little  party,  listening 
wonderingly  to  their  anthem,  supplying  them  with  no 
end  of  white  fish  which  they  had  come  to  catch  here, 
living  the  while  in  a  sort  of  a  village  near  by,  comprising 
probably  a  few  huts  erected  for  temporary  purposes. 
It  is  possible  these  dwellings  were  of  a  more  permanent 
character;  at  any  rate  Seneca  sovereignty  was  assured, 
as  the  Frenchmen  discovered  just  as  soon  as  post-holes 
for  Fort  Conti  were  being  dug.  Concerning  this,  as 
well  as  the  other  features  of  this  early  Niagara  River 
history,  the  record  of  Father  Hennepin  is  about  our 
only  source  of  information;  let  us,  therefore,  quote 
from  his  A  New  Discovery  concerning  Frontenac  and 
Niagara  days : 

That  very  same  Year,  on  the  Eighteenth  of  November,  I  took 
leave  of  our  Monks  at  Fort  Frontenac,  and  after  mutual  Embraces 
and  Expressions  of  Brotherly  and  Christian  Charity,  I  embark 'd 


i74  The  Niagara  River 

in  a  Brigantine  of  about  ten  Tuns.  The  Winds  and  the  Cold  of 
the  Autumn  were  then  very  violent,  insomuch  that  our  Crew  was 
afraid  to  go  into  so  little  a  Vessel.  This  oblig'd  us  and  the  Sieur 
de  la  Motte  our  Commander,  to  keep  our  course  on  the  North- 
side  of  the  Lake,  to  shelter  ourselves  under  the  Coast,  against  the 
North-west  Wind,  which  otherwise  would  have  forced  us  upon 
the  Southern  Coast  of  the  Lake.  This  Voyage  prov'd  very  diffi- 
cult and  dangerous,  because  of  the  unseasonable  time  of  the 
Year,  Winter  being  near  at  hand. 

On  the  26th,  we  were  in  great  danger  about  Two  large  Leagues 
off  the  Land,  where  we  were  oblig'd  to  lie  at  an  Anchor  all  that 
Night  at  sixty  Fathom  Water  and  above;  but  at  length  the  Wind 
coming  to  the  North-East,  we  sail'd  on,  and  arriv'd  safely  at  the 
further  end  of  the  Lake  Ontario,  call'd  by  the  Iroquese,  Skan- 
nadario.  We  came  pretty  near  to  one  of  their  Villages  call'd 
Tajajagon,  lying  about  Seventy  Leagues  from  Fort  Frontenac, 
or  Catarakouy. 

We  barter'd  some  Indian  Corn  with  the  Iroquese,  who  could 
not  sufficiently  admire  us,  and  came  frequently  to  see  us  on 
board  our  Brigantine,  which  for  our  greater  security,  we  had 
brought  to  an  Anchor  into  a  River,  though  before  we  could  get 
in,  we  run  aground  three  times,  which  oblig'd  us  to  put  Four- 
teen Men  into  Canou's,  and  cast  the  Balast  of  our  Ship  over- 
board to  get  her  off  again.  That  River  falls  into  the  Lake ;  but 
for  fear  of  being  frozen  up  therein,  we  were  forced  to  cut  the  Ice 
with  Axes  and  other  Instruments. 

The  Wind  turning  then  contrary,  we  were  oblig'd  to  tarry 
there  till  the  15th  of  December,  1678,  when  we  sailed  from  the 
Northern  Coast  to  the  Southern,  where  the  River  Niagara  runs 
into  the  Lake;  but  could  not  reach  it  that  Day,  though  it  is 
but  Fifteen  or  Sixteen  Leagues  distant,  and  therefore  cast  An- 
chor within  Five  Leagues  of  the  Shore,  where  we  had  very 
bad  Weather  all  the  Night  long. 

On  the  6th,  being  St.  Nicholas's  Day,  we  got  into  the  fine 
River  Niagara,  into  which  never  any  such  Ship  as  ours  entred 
before.  We  sung  there  Te  Deum,  and  other  Prayers,  to  return 
our  Thanks  to  God  Almighty  for  our  prosperous  Voyage.  The 
Iroquese  Tsonnontouans  inhabiting  the  little  Village,  situated 


From  La  Salle  to  De  Nonville  175 

at  the  Mouth  of  the  River,  took  above  Three  Hundred  Whitings 
which  are  bigger  than  Carps,  and  the  best  relish 'd,  as  well  as 
the  wholsomest  Fish  in  the  World ;  which  they  presented  all  to 
us,  imputing  their  good  luck  to  our  Arrival.  They  were  much 
surprized  at  our  Ship,  which  they  call'd  the  Great  Woodden 
Canou. 

On  the  7th,  we  went  in  a  Canou  two  Leagues  up  the  River 
to  look  for  a  convenient  Place  for  Building;  but  not  being  able 
to  get  the  Canou  farther  up,  because  the  Current  was  too  rapid 
for  us  to  master,  we  went  over  land  about  three  Leagues  higher, 
though  we  found  no  Land  fit  for  culture.  We  lay  that  Night  near 
a  River,  which  runs  from  the  Westward,  within  a  League  above 
the  great  Fall  of  Niagara,  which,  as  we  have  already  said,  is  the 
greatest  in  the  World.  The  Snow  was  then  a  Foot  deep,  and  we 
were  oblig'd  to  dig  it  up  to  make  room  for  our  Fire. 

The  next  day  we  return 'd  the  same  way  we  went,  and  saw 
great  Numbers  of  Wild  Goats,  and  Wild  Turkey-Cocks,  and  on 
the  1  ith  we  said  the  first  Mass  that  ever  was  said  in  that  Country. 
The  Carpenters  and  the  rest  of  the  Crew  were  set  to  work ;  but 
Monsieur  de  la  Motte,  who  had  the  Direction  of  them,  being  not 
able  to  endure  the  Fatigues  of  so  laborious  a  Life,  gave  over 
his  Design,  and  return'd  to  Canada,  having  about  two  hundred 
Leagues  to  Travel. 

The  12th,  13th,  and  14th,  the  Wind  was  not  favourable 
enough  to  sail  up  the  River  as  far  as  the  rapid  Current  above 
mention 'd  where  we  had  resolv'd  to  build  some  Houses. 

Whosoever  considers  our  Map,  will  easily  see,  that  this  New 
Enterprise  of  building  a  Fort  and  some  Houses  on  the  River 
Niagara,  besides  the  Fort  of  Frontenac,  was  like  to  give  Jeal- 
ousie  to  the  Iroquese,  and  even  to  the  English,  who  live  in  this 
Neighbourhood,  and  have  a  great  Commerce  with  them.  There- 
fore to  prevent  the  ill  Consequences  of  it,  it  was  thought  fit 
to  send  an  Embassie  to  the  Iroquese,  as  it  will  be  mention 'd 
in  the  next  Chapter. 

The  15th  I  was  desired  to  sit  at  the  Helm  of  our  Brigantine 
while  three  of  our  Men  hall'd  the  same  from  the  Shore  with  a 
Rope;  and  at  last  we  brought  her  up,  and  moor'd  her  to  the 
Shore  with  a  Halser,   near  a  Rock  of  a    prodigious    height  h 


176  The  Niagara  River 

lying  upon  the  rapid  Currents  we  have  already  mentioned. 
The  17th,  1 8th,  and  19th,  we  were  busie  in  making  a  Cabin  with 
Pallisado's,  to  serve  for  a  Magazine;  but  the  Ground  was  so 
frozen,  that  we  were  forc'd  to  throw  several  times  boiling  Water 
upon  it  to  facilitate  the  beating  in  and  driving  down  the  Stakes. 
The  20th,  21st,  22d,  and  23d,  our  Ship  was  in  great  danger  to  be 
dash'd  in  pieces,  by  the  vast  pieces  of  Ice  that  were  hurl'd  down 
the  River;  to  prevent  which,  our  Carpenters  made  a  Capstone 
to  haul  her  ashore;  but  our  great  Cable  broke  in  three  pieces; 
whereupon  one  of  our  Carpenters  surrounded  the  Vessel  with 
a  Cable,  and  ty'd  it  to  several  Ropes,  whereby  we  got  her  ashore, 
tho'  with  much  difficulty,  and  sav'd  her  from  the  danger  of  being 
broke  to  pieces,  or  carryed  away  by  the  Ice,  which  came  down 
with  an  extream  violence  from  the  great  Fall  of  Niagara. 

Returning  to  Niagara  with  little  or  no  promise  of 
success,  yet  La  Salle's  av ant-couriers  were  in  no  way 
dissuaded  from  their  purposes  of  fortifying  the  import- 
ant Niagara  portage  and  building  a  vessel  for  the  upper 
lakes  in  which  to  carry  the  produce  of  those  regions  to 
Niagara  and  from  thence  to  Canada.  Reaching  the 
Niagara  January  14th,  the  French  party  was  joined 
six  days  later  by  the  indomitable  La  Salle  who,  he  re- 
ported, had  paused  on  his  way  thither  from  Fort  Fron- 
tenac  and  visited  the  unmoved  Iroquois  and  secured 
their  consent  to  the  plan  of  fortification.  Yet  even  La 
Salle  was  too  optimistic  as  to  his  success, 

for  certain  Persons  [wrote  Hennepin],  who  made  it  their  Business 
to  Cross  our  Design,  inspired  the  Iroquese  with  many  suspicions, 
about  the  fort  we  were  building  at  Niagara,  which  was  in  great 
forwardness;  and  their  Suspicions  grew  so  high,  that  we  were 
obliged  to  give  over  our  Building  for  some  time,  contenting  our- 
selves with  an  Habitation  encompass'd  with  Pallisado's. 

The  embassy  to  the  Iroquois  mentioned  by  Henne- 
pin was  duly  organised  and  sent  forward  through  the 


From  La  Salle  to  De  Nonville  177 

winter  snows  to  seek  the  good-will  of  the  famous  owners 
of  the  soil  in  a  fort-building  project;  in  order  to  allay 
the  suspicions  of  the  Senecas  in  what  Hennepin  calls 
"the  little  village  of  Niagara,"  they  were  told  that 
their  purpose  was,  not  to  build  a  fort,  but  "a  Hangar, 
or  Store-house,  to  keep  the  Commodities  we  had  brought 
to  supply  their  Occasions."  Nevertheless  it  was  neces- 
sary to  supply  gifts  and  make  assurances  that  an  em- 
bassy would  forthwith  depart  for  the  Iroquois  council 
house.  Anything  less  than  Hennepin's  own  account 
would  not  fairly  describe  this  interesting  mission : 

We  travelled  with  Shoes  made  after  the  Indian  way,  of  a 
single  Skin,  but  without  Soles,  because  the  Earth  was  still 
cover'd  with  Snow,  and  past  through  Forests  for  thirty  two 
Leagues  together  carrying  upon  our  Backs  our  Coverings  and 
other  Baggage,  lying  often  in  open  Field,  and  having  with  us 
no  other  Food  but  some  roasted  Indian  Corn:  'T  is  true,  we  met 
upon  our  Road  some  Iroquese  a  hunting,  who  gave  us  some 
wild  Goats,  and  Fifteen  or  Sixteen  black  Squirrels,  which  are 
excellent  Meat.  However,  after  five  Days'  Journey,  we  came 
to  Tagarondies,  a  great  Village  of  the  Iroquese  Tsonnontouans, 
and  were  immediately  carry'd  to  the  Cabin  of  their  Principal 
Chief,  where  Women  and  Children  flock'd  to  see  us,  our  Men 
being  very  well  drest  and  arm'd.  An  old  Man  having  according 
to  Custom  made  publick  Cries,  to  give  Notice  of  our  arrival  to 
their  Village;  the  younger  Savages  wash'd  our  Feet,  which 
afterwards  they  rubb'd  over  with  the  Grease  of  Deers,  wild 
Goats,  and  other  Beasts,  and  the  Oil  of  Bears. 

The  next  Day  was  the  First  of  the  Year  1679.  After  the 
ordinary  Service  I  preach 'd  in  a  little  Chapel  made  of  Barks  of 
Trees,  in  presence  of  two  Jesuites,  viz.  Father  Gamier  and 
Rafeix;  and  afterwards  we  had  a  Conference  with  42  old  Men, 
who  make  up  their  Council.  These  Savages  are  for  the  most 
part  tall,  and  very  well  shap'd,  cover'd  with  a  sort  of  Robe 
made  of  Beavers  and  Wolves-Skins,  or  of  black  Squirrels, 
holding  a  Pipe  or  Calumet  in  their  Hands.     The  Senators  of 


178  The  Niagara  River 

Venice  do  not  appear  with  a  graver  Countenance,  and  perhaps 
don't  speak  with  more  Majesty  and  Solidity,  than  those  Ancient 
Iroquese. 

This  Nation  is  the  most  cruel  and  barbarous  of  all  America, 
especially  to  their  Slaves,  whom  they  take  above  two  or  three 
hundred  Leagues  from  their  Country,  .  .  .  however,  I  must 
do  them  the  Justice  to  observe,  that  they  have  many  good 
qualities;  and  that  they  love  the  Europeans,  to  whom  they 
sell  their  Commodities  at  very  reasonable  Rates.  They  have  a 
mortal  Hatred  for  those,  who  being  too  self-interested  and 
covetous,  are  always  endeavouring  to  enrich  themselves  to  the 
Prejudice  of  others.  Their  chief  Commodities  are  Beavers- 
Skins,  which  they  bring  from  above  a  hundred  and  fifty  Leagues 
off  their  Habitations,  to  exchange  them  with  the  English  and 
Dutch,  whom  they  affect  more  than  the  inhabitants  of  Canada, 
because  they  are  more  affable,  and  sell  them  their  Commodities 
cheaper. 

One  of  our  own  Men  nam'd  Anthony  Brossard,  who  under- 
stood very  well  the  Language  of  the  Iroquese,  and  therefore  was 
Interpreter  to  M.  de  la  Motte;  told  their  Assembly: 

First,  That  we  were  come  to  pay  them  a  Visit,  and  smoak 
with  them  in  their  Pipes,  a  Ceremony  which  I  shall  describe 
anon:  And  then  we  deliver'd  our  Presents,  consisting  of  Axes, 
Knives,  a  great  Collar  of  white  and  blue  Porcelain,  with  some 
Gowns.  We  made  Presents  upon  every  Point  we  propos'd  to 
them,  of  the  same  nature  as  the  former. 

Secondly,  We  desir'd  them,  in  the  next  place  to  give  notice 
to  the  five  Cantons  of  their  Nation,  that  we  were  about  to  build 
a  Ship,  or  great  woodden  Canou  above  the  great  Fall  of  the  River 
Niagara,  to  go  and  fetch  European  Commodities  by  a  more 
convenient  passage  than  the  ordinary  one,  by  the  River  St. 
Laurence,  whose  rapid  Currents  make  it  dangerous  and  long ; 
and  that  by  these  means  we  should  afford  them  our  Commodities 
cheaper  than  the  English  and  Dutch  of  Boston  and  New- York. 
This  Pretence  was  specious  enough,  and  very  well  contriv'd 
to  engage  the  barbarous  Nation  to  extirpate  the  English 
and  Dutch  out  of  America:  For  they  suffer  the  Europeans 
among   them  only  for  the  Fear  they  have  of  them,    or    else 


Frontenac,  from  Hebert's  Statue  at  Quebec. 


From  La  Salle  to  De  Nonville  179 

for  the  Profit  they  make  in  Bartering  their  Commodities  with 
them. 

Thirdly,  We  told  them  farther,  that  we  should  provide  them 
at  the  River  Niagara  with  a  Black-smith  and  a  Gun-smith, 
to  mend  their  Guns,  Axes,  &c.  having  no  body  among  them 
that  understood  that  Trade,  and  that  for  the  conveniency  of 
their  whole  Nation,  we  would  settle  those  Workmen  on  the 
Lake  of  Ontario,  at  the  Mouth  of  the  River  Niagara.  We  threw 
again  among  them  seven  or  eight  Gowns,  and  some  Pieces  of 
fine  Cloth,  which  they  cover  themselves  with  from  the  Wast  to  the 
Knees.  This  was  in  order  to  engage  them  on  our  side,  and  prevent 
their  giving  ear  to  any  who  might  suggest  ill  things  of  us, 
entreating  them  first  to  acquaint  us  with  the  Reports  that  should 
be  made  unto  them  to  our  Prejudice,  before  they  yielded  their 
Belief   to   the   fame. 

We  added  many  other  Reasons  which  we  thought  proper  to 
persuade  them  to  favour  our  Design.  The  Presents  we  made 
unto  them,  either  in  Cloth  or  Iron,  were  worth  above  400  Livres 
besides  some  other  European  Commodities,  very  scarce  in  that 
Country:  For  the  best  Reasons  in  the  World  are  not  listened  to 
among  them,  unless  they  are  enforc'd  with  Presents. 

The  next  Day  the  Iroquese  answered  our  Discourse  and 
Presents  Article  by  Article,  having  laid  upon  the  Ground  several 
little  pieces  of  Wood,  to  put  them  in  mind  of  what  had  been  said 
the  Day  before  in  the  Council ;  their  Speaker,  or  President  held 
in  his  Hand  one  of  these  Pieces  of  Wood,  and  when  he  had  an- 
swer'd.one  Article  of  our  Proposal,  he  laid  it  down,  with  some 
Presents  of  black  and  white  Porcelain,  which  they  use  to  string 
upon  the  smallest  Sinews  of  Beasts;  and  then  took  up  another 
Piece  of  Wood;  and  so  of  all  the  rest,  till  he  had  fully  answer'd 
our  Speech,  of  which  those  Pieces  of  Wood,  and  our  Presents 
put  them  in  mind.  When  this  Discourse  was  ended,  the  oldest 
Man  of  their  Assembly  cry'd  aloud  three  times,  Niaoua;  that 
is  to  say,  It  is  well,  I  thank  thee,  which  was  repeated  with  a 
full  Voice ;   and  in  a  tuneful  manner  by  all  the  other  Senators. 

'T  is  to  be  observ'd  here,  that  the  Savages,  though  some  are 
more  cunning  than  others,  are  generally  all  addicted  to  their 
own  Interests;    and  therefore  tho'  the  Iroquese  seem'd  to  be 


180  The  Niagara  River 

pleas'd  with  our  Proposals,  they  were  not  really  so;  for  the 
English  and  Dutch  affording  them  the  European  Commodities 
at  cheaper  Rates  than  the  French  of  Canada,  they  had  a  greater 
Inclination  for  them  than  for  us.  That  People,  tho'  so  bar- 
barous and  rude  in  their  Manners,  have  however  a  Piece  of 
Civility  peculiar  to  themselves;  for  a  Man  would  be  counted 
very  impertinent  if  he  contradicted  anything  that  is  said  in 
their  Council,  and  if  he  does  not  approve  even  the  greatest 
Absurdities  therein  propos'd;  and  therefore  they  always  answer 
Niaoua;  that  is  to  say  Thou  art  in  the  right  Brother ;  that  is  well. 
Notwithstanding  that  seeming  Approbation,  they  believe 
what  they  please  and  no  more;  and  therefore  't  is  impossible 
to  know  when  they  are  really  persuaded  of  those  things  you 
have  mention 'd  unto  them,  which  I  take  to  be  one  of  the  greatest 
Obstructions  to  their  Conversion:  For  their  Civility  hindering 
them  from  making  any  Objection,  or  contradicting  what  is 
said  unto  them,  they  seem  to  approve  of  it,  though  perhaps  they 
laugh  at  it  in  private,  or  else  never  bestow  a  moment  to  reflect 
upon  it,  such  being  their  indifference  for  a  future  Life.  From 
these  Observations,  I  conclude  that  the  Conversion  of  these 
People  is  to  be  despair'd  of,  'till  they  are  subdu'd  by  the  Euro- 
peans, and  that  their  Children  have  another  sort  of  Education, 
unless  God  be  pleas'd  to  work  a  Miracle  in  their  Favour. 

On  the  22nd  of  the  month  the  party  struck  out  for 
the  upper  Niagara  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  out  the 
original  design  of  building  a  ship  for  the  upper  lake 
trade.  Hennepin  gives  the  site  of  this  interesting 
adventure  as  "two  leagues  above  the  great  Fall — this 
was  the  most  convenient  place  we  could  pitch  upon, 
being  upon  a  River  which  falls  into  the  Streight  [Niag- 
ara River]  between  the  Lake  Erie,  and  the  great  Fall 
of  Niagara."  Even  had  the  common  portage  around 
the  Falls  and  Rapids  been  on  the  American  side  Henne- 
pin's account  makes  it  fairly  clear  that  the  boat  building 
took  place  on  Cayuga  Creek;  the  only  other  "river" 
above  the  Falls  falling  into  the  Niagara  is  the  Chippewa, 


From  La  Salle  to  De  Nonville  181 

and  Hennepin  clearly  notes  this  stream  in  his  first  tour 
of  exploration  above  the  Falls  as  "within  a  league 
above  the  great  Fall " ;  it  is  clear  that  the  Cayuga,  there- 
fore, is  the  probable  site  of  this  first  boat  building  along 
the  Niagara  frontier.1  The  little  village  at  this  point 
has  been  appropriately  named  La  Salle  from  the  famous 
adventurer  who  here  dreamed  that  emparadising  dream 
of  discovery  and  empire-founding.  Hennepin's  ac- 
count, quaintly  worded,  again  becomes  of  more  interest 
than  any  record  of  those  days  to  be  made  from  it : 

The  26th,  the  Keel  of  the  Ship  and  some  other  Pieces  being 
ready,  M.  de  la  Salle  sent  the  Master-Carpenter,  to  desire  me  to 
drive  in  the  first  Pin ;  but  my  Profession  obliging  me  to  decline 
that  Honour,  he  did  it  himself,  and  promis'd  Ten  Louis  d'Or's, 
to  encourage  the  Carpenter,  and  further  the  Work.  The  Winter 
being  not  half  so  hard  in  that  Country  as  in  Canada,  we  employ'd 
one  of  the  two  Savages  of  the  Nation  call'd  the  Wolf,  whom  we 
kept  for  Hunting,  in  building  some  Cabins  made  of  Rinds 
of  Trees;  and  I  had  one  made  on  purpose  to  perform  Divine 
Service  therein  on  Sundays,  and  other  occasions. 

M.  de  la  Salle  having  some  urgent  Business  of  his  own, 
return'd  to  Fort  Frontenac,  leaving  for  our  Commander  one 
Tonti,  an  Italian  by  Birth,  who  had  been  forc'd  to  retire  into 
France  after  the  Revolution  of  Naples,  in  which  his  Father  was 
concern'd.  I  conducted  M.  de  la  Salle  as  far  as  the  Lake  Ontario 
at  the  Mouth  of  the  River  Niagara,  where  we  order'd  a  House 
to  be  built  for  the  Smith  he  had  promis'd  to  the  Iroquese;  but 
this  was  only  to  amuze  them,  and  therefore  I  cannot  but  own 
that  the  Savages  are  not  to  be  blam'd  for  having  not  believ'd 

1  The  exact  spot  of  building  is  the  subject  of  a  monograph  The  Ship- 
yard of  the  Griffon  by  Cyrus  Kingsbury  Remington  (Buffalo,  N.  Y.  189 1), 
in  which  the  author,  while  advocating  his  own  theory,  presents  liberally 
views  held  by  those  in  disagreement  with  himself.  We  find  O.  H.  Mar- 
shall in  accord  with  Mr  Remington  that  what  is  known  as  the  "Old  Ship 
Yard"  or  Angevine  place,  at  La  Salle,  was  the  site  of  the  building  of 
the  Griff o)i. 


[82  The  Niagara  River 

every  thing  they  were  told  by  M.  la  Motte  in  his  Embassie  already 
related. 

He  undertook  his  Journey  a-foot  over  the  Snow,  having  no 
other  Provisions,  but  a  little  Sack  of  Indian  Corn  roasted,  which 
fail'd  him  two  Days  before  he  came  to  the  Fort,  which  is  above 
fourscore  Leagues  distant  from  the  Place  where  he  left  us.  How- 
ever he  got  home  safely  with  two  Men,  and  a  Dog,  who  dragg'd 
his  Baggage  over  the  Ice  or  frozen  Snow. 

When  I  return 'd  to  our  Dock,  I  understood  that  most  of  the 
Iroquese  were  gone  to  wage  War  with  a  Nation  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Lake  Erie.  In  the  mean  time,  our  Men  continu'd 
with  great  Application  to  build  our  Ship;  for  the  Iroquese  who 
were  left  behind,  being  but  a  small  number,  were  not  so  insolent 
as  before,  though  they  come  now  and  then  to  our  Dock,  and 
express'd  some  Discontent  at  what  we  were  doing.  One  of  them 
in  particular,  feigning  himself  drunk,  attempted  to  kill  our 
Smith,  but  was  vigorously  repuls'd  by  him  with  a  red-hot  Iron- 
barr,  which,  together  with  the  Reprimand  he  receiv'd  from  me, 
oblig'd  him  to  be  gone.  Some  few  Days  after,  a  Savage  Woman 
gave  us  notice,  that  the  Tsonnontouans  had  resolv'd  to  burn 
our  Ship  in  the  Dock,  and  had  certainly  done  it,  had  we  not 
been  always  upon  our  Guard. 

These  frequent  Alarms  from  the  Natives,  together  with  the 
Fears  we  were  -in  of  wanting  Provisions,  having  lost  the  great 
Barque  from  Fort  Frontenac,  which  should  have  reliev'd  us, 
and  the  Tsonnontouans  at  the  same  time  refusing  to  give  us  of 
their  Corn  for  Money,  were  a  great  discouragement  to  our  Car- 
penters, whom  on  the  other  hand,  a  Villain  amongst  us  endeav- 
our'd  to  reduce:  That  pitiful  Fellow  had  several  times  attempted 
to  run  away  from  us  into  New- York,  and  would  have  been  likely 
to  pervert  our  Carpenters,  had  I  not  confirm'd  them  in  their 
good  Resolution,  by  the  Exhortations  I  us'd  to  make  every 
Holy-day  after  Divine  Service;  in  which  I  represented  to  them, 
that  the  Glory  of  God  was  concern 'd  in  our  Undertaking,  besides 
the  Good  and  Advantage  of  our  Christian  Colonies;  and  there- 
fore exhorted  them  to  redouble  their  Diligence,  in  order  to  free 
our  selves  from  all  those  Inconveniences  and  Apprehensions 
we  then  lay  under. 


From  La  Salle  to  De  Nonville  183 

The  two  Savages  we  had  taken  into  our  Service,  went  all 
this  while  a  Hunting,  and  supply'd  us  with  Wild-Goats,  and 
other  Beasts  for  our  Subsistence;  which  encouraged  our  Work- 
men to  go  on  with  their  Work  more  briskly  than  before,  insomuch 
that  in  a  short  time  our  Ship  was  in  a  readiness  to  be  launched ; 
which  we  did,  after  having  bless'd  the  same  according  to  the  use 
of  the  Romish  Church.  We  made  all  the  haste  we  could  to  get 
it  afloat,  though  not  altogether  finish 'd,  to  prevent  the  Designs 
of  the  Natives,  who  had  resolv'd  to  burn  it. 

The  Ship  was  call'd  the  Griffon,  alluding  to  the  Arms  of 
Count  Frontenac,  which  have  two  Griffons  for  Supporters;  and 
besides,  M.  la  Salle  us'd  to  say  of  the  Ship,  while  yet  upon  the 
Stocks,  that  he  would  make  the  Griffon  fly  above  the  Ravens. 
We  flr'd  three  Guns,  and  sung  Te  Deum,  which  was  attended 
with  loud  Acclamations  of  Joy;  of  which  those  of  the  Iroquese, 
who  were  accidentally  present  at  this  Ceremony,  were  also 
Partakers;  for  we  gave  them  some  Brandy  to  drink,  as  well  as 
our  Men,  who  immediately  quitted  their  Cabins  of  Rinds  of 
Trees,  and  hang'd  their  Hammocks  under  the  Deck  of  the  Ship, 
there  to  lie  with  more  security  than  ashore.  We  did  the  like, 
insomuch  that  the  very  same  Day  we  were  all  on  Board,  and 
thereby  out  of  the  reach  of  the  Insults  of  the  Savages. 

The  Iroquese  being  returned  from  hunting  Beavers,  were 
mightily  surprised  to  see  our  Ship  a-float,  and  call'd  us  Otkon, 
which  is  in  their  Language,  Most  penetrating  Wits:  For  they 
could  not  apprehend  how  in  so  short  a  time  we  had  been  able 
to  build  so  great  a  Ship,  though  it  was  but  60  Tuns.  It  might 
have  been  indeed  call'd  a  moving  Fortress;  for  all  the  Savages 
inhabiting  the  Banks  of  those  Lakes  and  Rivers  I  have  mentioned, 
for  five  hundred  Leagues  together,  were  filled  with  fear  as  well 
as  Admiration  when  they  saw  it.  .  .  . 

Being  thus  prepar'd  against  all  Discouragements,  I  went  up 
in  a  Canou  with  one  of  our  Savages  to  the  Mouth  of  the  Lake 
Erie,  notwithstanding  the  strong  Current  which  I  master'd 
with  great  difficulty.  I  sounded  the  Mouth  of  the  Lake  and 
found,  contrary  to  the  Relation  that  had  been  made  unto  me, 
that  a  Ship  with  a  brisk  Gale  might  sail  up  to  the  Lake,  and 
surmounted  the  Rapidity  of  the  Current;    and  that  therefore 


[84  The  Niagara  River 

with  a  strong  North,  North-East  Wind,  we  might  bring  our 
Ship  into  the  Lake  Erie.  I  took  also  a  view  of  the  Banks  of 
the  Streight,  and  found  that  in  case  of  Need,  we  might  put 
seme  of  our  Men  a-shore  to  hall  the  Ship,  if  the  Wind  was  not 
:ig   enough. 

The  Griffon  being  more  or  less  completed  Father 
Hennepin  followed  La  Salle  in  returning  to  Fort  Fron- 
tenac  to  secure  necessaries  for  the  tour  of  the  upper 
lakes.  Returning,  La  Salle  and  Hennepin  did  not  reach 
Niagara  again  until  the  30th  of  July,  but  found  the 
Griffon  riding  safely  at  anchor  within  a  league  of  Lake 
Erie. 

We  were  very  kindly  receiv'd  [writes  the  Father],  and  like- 
wise very  glad  to  find  our  Ship  well  rigg'd,  and  ready  fitted 
out  with  all  the  Necessaries  for  sailing.  She  carry'd  five  small 
Guns,  two  whereof  were  Brass,  and  three  Harquebuze  a-crock. 
The  Beak-head  was  adorn 'd  with  a  flying  Griffon,  and  an  Eagle 
above  it;  and  the  rest  of  the  Ship  had  the  same  Ornaments 
as  Men  of  War  use  to  have. 

The  Iroquese  were  then  returning  from  a  Warlike  Expedition 
with  several  Slaves,  and  were  much  surpriz'd  to  see  so  big  a  Ship, 
which  they  compar'd  to  a  Fort,  beyond  their  Limits.  Several 
came  on  board,  and  seem'd  to  admire  above  all  things  the  bigness 
of  our  Anchors;  for  they  could  not  apprehend  how  we  had  been 
able  to  bring  them  through  the  rapid  Currents  of  the  River 
St.  Laurence.  This  oblig'd  them  to  use  often  the  Word  Gan- 
norom,  which  in  their  Language  signifies,  That  is  wonderful.  They 
wonder'd  also  to  find  there  a  Ship,  having  seen  none  when  they 
went;  and  did  not  know  from  whence  it  came,  it  being  about 
250  Leagues  from  Canada. 

Having  forbid  the  Pilot  to  attempt  to  sail  up  the  Currents 
of  the  Streight  till  farther  order,  we  return'd  the  16th  and  17th 
to  the  Lake  Ontario,  and  brought  up  our  Bark  to  the  great  Rock 
of  Xiagara,  and  anchor'd  at  the  foot  of  the  three  Mountains 
Lewiston,  where  we  were  oblig'd  to  make  our  Portage;  that 
is,  to  carry  over-land  our  Canou's  and  Provisions,  and  other 


Luna  Island  Bridge. 


From  La  Salle  to  De  Nonville  185 

Things,  above  the  great  Fall  of  the  River,  which  interrupts  the 
Navigation:  and  because  most  of  the  Rivers  of  that  Country  are 
interrupted  with  great  Rocks,  and  that  therefore  those  who 
sail  upon  the  same,  are  oblig'd  to  go  overland  above  those  Falls, 
and  carry  upon  their  Backs  their  Canou's  and  other  Things. 
They  express  it  with  this  Word,  To  make  our  Portage ;  of  which 
the  Reader  is  desir'd  to  take  notice,  for  otherwise  the  following 
Account,  as  well  as  the  Map,  would  be  unintelligible  to  many. 

Father  Gabriel,  though  of  Sixty  five  Years  of  Age,  bore  with 
great  Vigour  the  Fatigue  of  that  Voyage,  and  went  thrice  up 
and  down  those  three  Mountains,  which  are  pretty  high  and 
steep.  Our  Men  had  a  great  deal  of  trouble;  for  they  were 
oblig'd  to  make  several  Turns  to  carry  the  Provisions  and 
Ammunition,  and  the  Portage  was  two  Leagues  long.  Our 
Anchors  were  so  big  that  four  Men  had  much  ado  to  carry  one; 
but  the  Brandy  we  gave  them  was  such  an  Encouragement, 
that  they  surmounted  cheerfully  all  the  Difficulties  of  that 
Journey;  and  so  we  got  on  board  our  Ship  all  our  Provisions, 
Ammunitions,  and  Commodities.  .  .  . 

We  endeavour'd  several  times  to  sail  up  that  Lake;  but  the 
Wind  being  not  strong  enough,  we  were  forc'd  to  wait  for  it. 
In  the  mean  time,  M.  la  Salle  caus'd  our  Men  to  grub  up  some 
Land,  and  sow  several  sorts  of  Pot-Herbs  and  Pulse,  for  the 
conveniency  of  those  who  should  settle  themselves  there,  to 
maintain  our  Correspondence  with  Fort  Frontenac.  We  found 
there  a  great  quantity  of  wild  Cherries  and  Rocambol,  a  sort  of 
Garlick,  which  grow  naturally  in  that  Ground.  We  left  Father 
Melithon,  with  some  Work-men,  at  our  Habitation  above  the 
Fall  of  Niagara;  and  most  of  our  Men  went  a-shore  to  lighten 
our  Ships,  the  better  to  sail  up  the  Lake. 

The  Wind  veering  to  the  North-East,  and  the  Ship  being 
well  provided,  we  made  all  the  Sail  we  could,  and  with  the  help 
of  Twelve  Men  who  hall'd  from  the  Shoar,  overcame  the  Rapidity 
of  the  Current,  and  got  into  the  Lake.  The  Stream  is  so  violent, 
that  our  Pilot  himself  despair'd  of  Success.  When  it  was  done, 
we  sung  Te  Deum,  and  discharg'd  our  Cannon  and  other  Fire- 
Arms,  in  presence  of  a  great  many  Iroquese,  who  came  from  a 
Warlike  Expedition  against  the  Savages  of  Tintonha;    that  is 


1 86  The  Niagara  River 

to  say,  the  Nation  of  the  Meadows,  who  live  above  four  hundred 
Leagues  from  that  Place.  The  Iroquese  and  their  Prisoners 
were  much  surpriz'd  to  see  us  in  the  Lake  and  did  not  think  before 
that,  we  should  be  able  to  overcome  the  Rapidity  of  the  Current: 
They  cry'd  several  times  Gannorom,  to  shew  their  Admiration. 
Some  of  the  Iroquese  had  taken  the  measure  of  our  Ship,  and 
immediately  went  for  New- York  to  give  notice  to  the  English 
and  Dutch  of  our  Sailing  into  the  Lake:  For  those  Nations 
affording  their  Commodities  Cheaper  than  the  French,  are  also 
more  belov'd  by  the  Natives.  On  the  7th  of  August,  1679, 
we  went  on  board  being  in  all  four  and  thirty  men,  including 
two  Recollets  who  came  to  us,  and  sail'd  from  the  Mouth  of  the 
Lake  Erie. 

The  loss  of  the  Griffon  by  shipwreck  on  its 
initial  voyage  and  the  subsequent  misfortunes  that 
seemed  to  follow  the  brave  La  Salle  up  to  the  very  day 
that  witnessed  his  brutal  murder  in  a  far  Texan  prairie 
in  1687,  are,  in  a  measure  only  a  part  of  the  story 
of  Niagara.  Had  that  great  man  lived  to  realise  any 
fair  fraction  of  his  emparadising  dream  of  empire 
the  effect  on  the  history  of  the  Niagara  frontier  would 
have  been  momentous;  a  mere  comparison  of  what 
now  did  transpire  at  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara,  in  the 
very  year  of  La  Salle's  death,  illustrates  perfectly  the 
lack  of  enterprise  that  seems  suddenly  to  have  faded 
from  the  situation.  With  La  Salle  gone,  the  whole 
attitude  of  the  regime  in  power  at  Quebec  seems  to 
change;  whereas  La  Salle  was  on  the  very  point  of 
establishing  at  Niagara  an  important  station  on  the 
communication  to  Louisiana.  What  actually  did 
happen  here  is  pitiful  by  comparison. 

The  new  Governor,  De  Nonville,  in  order  to  bring 
the  Iroquois  into  a  proper  state  of  submission  and 
compell  them  to  desist  from    annoying   travellers  on 


From  La  Salle  to  De  Nonville  187 

the  St.  Lawrence,  determined  to  repeat  Champlain's 
feat  of  invading  their  homeland.  The  record  of  this 
expedition  from  the  mouth  of  its  commanding  officer, 
the  Governor  himself,  is  a  very  interesting  document, 
especially  to  those  interested  in  the  study  of  that 
famous  Long  House  that  lay  south  of  Lake  Ontario.1 
Embarking  at  Fort  Frontenac  July  4,  1687,  the  ex- 
pedition landed  at  Irondequoit  Bay  six  days  later, 
where  De  Nonville  was  reinforced  by  a  party  of  French 
which  had  rendezvoused  at  Niagara  from  the  West.  Of 
this  party  little  is  known;  possibly  some  of  La  Salle's 
crew  were  here,  coming  from  their  cabins  at  either 
end  of  the  Niagara  portage  path,  or  possibly  from  the 
ship  yard  at  the  present  La  Salle.  "  It  clearly  appears," 
writes  Marshall,  "from  De  Nonville 's  narrative,  that 
the  party  which  he  met  at  the  mouth  of  the  bay,  was 
composed  of  French  and  Indians  from  the  far  west, 
who  sailed  from  .  .  .  Niagara,  to  join  the  expedition 
pursuant  to  his  orders."  These  Indians,  Mr.  Browne 
affirms,  were  from  Michilimackinac.  Marching  inland 
to  the  region  Mr.  Marshall  believed,  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  village  of  Victor,  ten  miles  north-west  of 
Canandaigua,  a  party  of  Senecas  was  put  to  flight  and 
the  entire  region  devastated  until  the  23rd;  it  was 
estimated  that  in  the  four  Seneca  villages  the  soldiers 
had  destroyed  about  1,200,000  bushels  of  corn — ■ 
350,000  minots,  of  which  all  but  50,000  were  green. 
On  the  24th  the  lake  was  again  reached. 

The  situation  on  the  Niagara  frontier  at  this  moment 
could  not  better  be  described  than  it  has  been  by 
Mr.  Browne  in  his  The  St.  Lawrence  River,  as  follows: 

1  The  Narrative  is  given  in  full  with  careful  introduction  and  explana- 
tions in  Marshall's  Writings,  123-186. 


1 88  The  Niagara  River 

Dencnville  had  now  a  clear  way  to  build  his  fort  at  Niagara, 
which  he  proceeded  to  do,  and  then  armed  it  with  one  hundred 
men.  If  triumphant  in  his  bold  plans,  he  had  to  learn  that  the 
viper  crushed  might  rise  to  sting.  The  Senecas  had  their  aven- 
gers. Maddened  by  the  cowardly  onset  of  Denonville  and  his 
followers,  the  Iroquois  to  a  man  rose  against  the  French.  This 
was  not  done  by  any  organised  raid,  but,  shod  with  silence, 
small,  eager  war-parties  haunted  the  forests  of  the  St.  Lawrence, 
striking  where  they  were  the  least  expected,  and  never  failing 
to  leave  behind  them  the  smoke  of  burning  dwellings  and  the 
horrors  of  desolated  lives.  From  Fort  Frontenac  to  Tadousac 
there  was  not  a  home  exempt  from  this  deadly  scourge;  not  a 
life  that  was  not  threatened.  Unable  to  cope  with  so  artful 
a  foe,  Denonville  was  in  despair.  He  sued  for  peace,  but  to 
obtain  this  he  had  to  betray  his  allies,  the  Indians  of  the  Upper 
Lakes,  who  had  entered  his  service  under  the  conditions  that 
the  war  should  continue  until  the  Iroquois  were  exterminated. 
The  latter  sent  delegates  to  confer  with  the  French  commander 
at  Montreal. 

While  this  conference  was  under  way,  a  Huron  chief 
showed  that  he  was  the  equal  of  even  Denonville  in  the 
strategies  of  war  where  the  code  of  honour  was  a  dead  letter. 
Anticipating  the  fate  in  store  for  his  race  did  the  French  carry 
out  their  scheme  of  self-defence,  this  chief,  whose  name  was 
Kandironk,  "the  Rat,"  lay  in  ambush  for  the  envoys  on  their 
way  home  from  their  conference  with  Denonville,  when  the 
latter  had  made  so  many  fair  promises.  These  Kandironk 
captured,  claiming  he  did  it  under  orders  from  Denonville, 
bore  them  to  Michilimackinac,  and  tortured  them  as  spies.  This 
done,  he  sent  an  Iroquois  captive  to  tell  his  people  how  fickle 
the  French  could  be.  Scarcely  was  this  accomplished  when  he 
gave  to  the  French  his  exultant  declaration,  "I  have  killed 
the  peace !"  The  words  were  prophetic.  Nothing  that  Denonville 
could  say  or  do  cleared  him  of  connection  with  the  affair.  His 
previous  conduct  was  enough  to  condemn  him.  To  avenge  this 
act  of  deceit,  as  the  Iroquois  considered  it,  they  rallied  in  great 
numbers,  and  on  the  night  of  August  4,  1689,  dealt  the  most 
cruel  and  deadly  blow  given  during  all  the  years  of  warfare  in 
the  St.  Lawrence  valley.     Fifteen  hundred  strong,  under  cover 


From  La  Salle  to  De  Nonville  189 

of  the  darkness,  they  stole  down  upon  the  settlement  of  La 
Chine  situated  at  the  upper  end  of  the  island  of  Montreal,  and 
surprised  the  inhabitants  while  they  slept  in  fancied  security. 
More  than  two  hundred  men,  women,  and  children  were  slain 
in  cold  blood,  or  borne  away  to  fates  a  hundred  times  more 
terrible  to  meet  than  swift  death.  The  day  already  breaking 
upon  the  terror-stricken  colonists  was  the  darkest  Canada 
ever  knew. 

The  result  of  the  expedition,  so  far  as  result  appears, 
was  effected  when  the  ships  bearing  his  men  turned 
toward  the  Niagara  River  and  were  anchored  off  the 
point  of  land  where  now  stands  historic  Fort  Niagara. 
Here  a  fort  was  to  be  built  forthwith,  as  much  to 
secure  the  fur  trade  and  to  overawe  the  Indians  as  to 
keep  the  English  from  making  any  advance  toward 
the  territory  of  the  Lakes.  On  the  very  day  of  his 
arrival  De  Nonville  set  his  men  to  work.  The  fortifi- 
cation was  constructed  partly  of  earth  surmounted 
by  palisades.  The  building  of  the  structure  was  no 
easy  matter.  There  were  no  trees  in  the  immediate 
vicinity,  so  the  soldiers  had  to  obtain  their  timber  to 
the  east  along  the  lake  or  across  the  river.  After  the 
timber  had  been  obtained  from  these  forests,  it  was 
a  very  difficult  matter  to  drag  it  up  the  high  bank. 
However,  De  Nonville  was  so  energetic  and  his  men 
worked  so  faithfully  that  in  three  days  a  fort  was  built 
with  four  bastions,  where  were  mounted  two  large 
guns.  Several  cabins  were  also  built.  As  the  work 
progressed,  many  of  those  who  had  come  with  De  Non- 
ville, both  French  and  Indians,  began  to  leave.  Du 
Luth,  Durantaye,  and  Tonty,  together  with  the  Illinois 
Indians  who  had  allied  themselves  with  the  French 
against  the  Iroquois,  departed  for  the  trading-posts  of 


190  The  Niagara  River 

Detroit  and  Michilimackinac.  Soon  after  De  Nonville 
himself  left  for  Montreal,  taking  with  him  all  but  a 
hundred  men.  Those  whom  he  left  behind  were  placed 
under  the  command  of  De  Troyes,  with  promises 
to  send  provisions  as  soon  as  possible,  and  fresh 
troops  in  the  spring.1 

The  men  left  behind  were  truly  in  a  surly  mood. 
In  spite  of  De  Nonville's  assurance  of  provisions,  and 
his  assertion  that  the  Senecas  had  been  subdued,  these 
men  knew  only  too  well  not  to  depend  too  much  on  the 
first,  and  as  to  the  second,  that  the  Indians  had  only 
been  enraged,  rather  than  vanquished. 

For  a  time  there  was  enough  work  to  keep  all  hands 
busy.  M.  de  Brissay  left  on  the  3d  of  August,  com- 
manding M.  de  Vaudreuil  to  help  in  the  constructing 
of  the  cabins  and  the  completion  of  the  fort.  There 
was  an  immense  amount  of  work  to  be  accomplished 
in  the  cutting,  dragging,  hewing,  and  sawing  of  the 
timbers;  but,  despite  the  hot  weather,  there  was  soon 
completed  a  house  with  a  chimney  of  sticks  and  clay 
for  the  commandant.  Three  other  cabins  were  after- 
ward built  in  the  square  and  in  the  midst  of  these  a 
well  was  dug;  but  its  waters  were  always  roiled  from 
improper  curbing. 

Vaudreuil  left  toward  the  latter  part  of  August  after 
having  seen  the  company  well  roofed.  Many  of  the  num- 
ber, who  were  at  first  fired  by  the  spirit  of  adventure  and 
a  desire  to  remain  at  Niagara,  now,  foreseeing  the  suffer- 
ing to  be  undergone,  desired  to  return  with  Vaudreuil; 
but  nearly  all  were  compelled  to  remain  at  the  fort. 

'  A  most  thrilling  account  of  this  fort-building  effort  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Niagara  is  to  be  found  in  Severance,  Old  Trails  of  the  Niagara 
Frontier,  on  which  the  present  writer  has  based  his  description  here  given. 


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O 

o 


From  La  Salle  to  De  Nonville  191 

Although  the  expedition  when  it  set  out  against 
the  Senecas  was  tolerably  well  supplied  with  necessaries 
for  an  Indian  campaign,  those  who  were  left  at  the 
fort  were  left  in  a  bad  condition  indeed.  About  three 
thousand  bushels  of  corn  had  been  destroyed  which 
belonged  to  the  Senecas;  but  scarcely  a  week's  rations 
had  been  brought  along  to  their  destination.  Very 
few  had  brought  any  seeds,  and  not  much  gardening 
could  have  been  done  anyway,  on  account  of  the  late- 
ness of  the  season.  The  few  attempts  that  were  made 
brought  no  returns  on  account  of  a  drought.  No 
hunting  could  be  undertaken  except  in  large  parties 
so  as  to  be  secure  from  the  savages.  Almost  the  only 
food  supply  was  the  fish  caught  in  the  lake. 

There  was  unbounded  joy  at  the  fort  when  the  sail 
of  the  ship  with  supplies,  which  had  been  promised  by 
Denonville,  was  seen  on  the  horizon.  But  even  then 
the  unlading  was  delayed  two  days  by  calms  which 
prevented  the  vessel  from  coming  nearer  than  several 
miles  from  the  shore.  Finally  a  landing  was  effected; 
and  the  cargo  was  quickly  stowed  in  the  fort.  The 
ship  immediately  returned  to  Canada. 

From  the  very  first  the  provisions  proved  to  be 
bad.  Still  with  these,  together  with  the  few  herbs  of 
the  forest,  a  small  amount  of  game  and  fish,  the  men 
managed  to  eke  out  an  existence.  There  was  no 
labour  to  perform — nothing  to  do  but  complain  of  the 
food  and  hard  life  which  they  were  compelled  to  live. 

Toward  the  latter  part  of  September,  the  Indians 
made  their  first  appearance.  A  hunting  party  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Falls  lost  two  men.  Another  party  was 
cut  off  from  the  fort.  Their  dead  bodies  were  found 
scalped  and  mutilated  by  the  savages.   The  commander, 


1 92  The  Niagara  River 

De  Troves,  soon  fell  ill,  as  did  also  Jean  de  Lamber- 
ville,  the  only  priest  in  the  colony.  Thus  at  almost 
the  same  time  was  the  company  deprived  of  leadership 
and  religious  consolation.  Christmas  season  drew 
on;  but  it  was  a  sorry  time  for  those  at  the  fort.  The 
weather  had  become  severe,  and  fierce  snow-storms 
were  frequent.  No  one  ventured  beyond  the  palisades 
except  in  quest  of  firewood ;  and  it  was  almost  impos- 
sible at  times  to  obtain  this.  Many  were  nearly  frozen 
in  their  cabins.  One  day  the  wood-choppers  were 
overwhelmed  in  the  snow  in  sight  of  the  fort.  No  one 
dared  to  go  to  their  succour  for  fear  of  suffering  the 
same  fate.  Two  days  after,  those  within  the  stockade 
saw  their  dead  comrades  devoured  by  wolves.  Not 
a  charge  of  powder  was  left.  The  food  was  almost 
unbearable.  The  biscuits  were  full  of  weevil  from  the 
first,  and  the  meat  was  in  such  a  putrefied  condition 
that  no  one  could  eat  it.  Scurvy  broke  out.  De 
Troyes  could  not  leave  his  cabin  and  was  compelled 
to  trust  everything  to  his  men. 

From  a  band  of  gallant  soldiers,  they  had  been 
reduced  to  a  mere  handful  of  disease-infected  skeletons. 
In  six  weeks  there  were  sixty  deaths;  and  this  was 
only  the  middle  of  February.  Only  a  few  of  the  stronger 
were  left  able  to  do  the  work  which  was  absolutely 
necessary,  such  as  supplying  firewood  and  burying  the 
dead,  and  these  duties  were  performed  with  infinite 
toil  and  danger.  More  than  twenty  died  in  the  month 
of  March ;  in  this  number  was  the  brave  commander  De 
Troyes.  With  their  leader  seemed  to  perish  all  the 
little  spirit  left  in  his  followers.  Almost  no  hope  was 
left  for  the  suffering  inmates  of  the  fort.  It  was  still 
many  weeks  until  the  promised  succour  could  possibly 


From  La  Salle  to  De  Nonville  193 

come  from  Montreal.  The  Western  savages  had  prom- 
ised an  alliance  and  aid  to  the  French  against  the 
Iroquois,  but  little  confidence  was  to  be  placed  in  their 
promises. 

Just  as  the  men  left  in  the  fort  were  reduced  to  the 
very  last  extremity,  and  were  wishing  for  death  to 
relieve  them  of  their  miseries,  a  war-party  from  the 
Miamis  on  an  expedition  against  the  Senecas  reached 
the  fort  and  gave  that  relief  so  long  vainly  looked  for 
by  the  inmates.  Several  of  these  who  first  regained 
their  strength  set  out  for  Montreal  to  carry  the  news 
of  their  sore  straits  to  the  government;  and  on  one 
pleasant,  beautiful  day  in  April  the  long  expected  sail 
was  seen  on  the  horizon  bringing  relief  to  the  rem- 
nant of  those  who  had  been  left  in  the  fort  the 
preceding  summer. 

In  command  of  the  expedition  was  D'esbergeres, 
and  with  him  Father  Milet,  besides  a  large  company 
of  companions.  As  soon  as  they  landed,  Father 
Milet  conducted  mass  and  then  put  all  the  men  who 
were  able  to  work  constructing  a  large  cross.  While 
they  were  at  the  work,  Father  Milet  traced  upon  its 
arms:  "  Regnat,  Vincit,  Imperat  Christus." 

On  Good  Friday,  the  priest  again  held  mass,  and 
erected  the  cross  in  the  centre  of  the  square  of  the 
fort,  thus  symbolising  a  victory  wrung  from  the  clutches 

of  defeat  itself. 

With  spring,  the  new  companions,  and  a  goodly 
supply  of  provisions,  was  born  new  hope  in  the  fort. 
The  little  company  were  very  busy  during  the  summer, 
despite  the  fact  that  the  Iroquois,  stirred  on  by  the 
English,  gave  them  continual  trouble.  In  September 
Mahent  came  with  the  vessel  La  General,  with  orders 


194  The  Niagara  River 

to  D'esbergeres  to  abandon  the  fort.  This  was  quite 
a  blow  to  the  commander,  as  having  held  the  post 
all  summer  he  hoped  to  continue  to  do  so.  The  outer 
barracks  were  all  destroyed,  which  was  not  so  difficult 
a  task,  as  the  severe  storms  of  the  previous  winter  had 
done  much  of  this  work;  but  the  cabins  were  all  left 
standing.  On  the  morning  of  the  15th  of  September, 
1688,  the  garrison  sailed  away,  once  more  leaving  the 
shores  of  the  great  Niagara  untroubled  by  the  con- 
tentions of  white  men,  and  open  to  the  nation  who 
should  seize  it  or  conciliate  the  savages  who  held  the 
surrounding  regions. 

Yet  De  Nonville  had  done  something  for  which  to  be 
remembered  beyond  raiding  the  Long  House  and  forti- 
fying the  river  of  the  Neuters;  he  had  left  it  a  name 
that  should  live  as  he  had,  first  of  white  men,  so  far 
as  we  know,  written  it.  The  orthography  of  the  name 
Niagara  seems  to  have  now  been  established — 1687. 
Champlain  did  not  use  any  name  in  16 13,  though  on 
his  map  we  find  the  following  words  attached  to  the 
stream  connecting  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario,  chute 
d'eau,  giving  us  our  first  genuine  record  of  Niagara 
Falls. 

We  have  seen  that  L'Allemant  spelled  the  name 
Onguiaahra  in  1640.  In  1657  it  appears  on  Sanson's 
map  as  Ongiara,  and  is  applied  to  the  Falls;  in  1660 
Ducreux's  map  shows  us  "Ongiara  Cataractes."  In 
1687  De  Nonville  gives  us  our  present  Niagara.  Of 
the  name  Mr.  Marshall  has  left  this  authoritative 
opinion : 

Onguiaahra  and  Ongiara  are  evidently  identical,  and  present 
the  same  elements  as  Niagara.  They  are  undoubtedly  compounds 
of  words  expressive  of  some  meaning,  as  is  usual  with  aboriginal 


From  La  Salle  to  De  Nonville  195 

terms,  but  which  meaning  is  now  lost.  The  "o"  which  occurs  in 
both  the  French  and  English  orthography  is  probably  a  neuter 
prefix,  similar  to  what  is  used  by  the  Senecas  and  Mohawks. 
One  writer  contends  that  Niagara  is  derived  from  Nyah'-gaah',  or 
as  he  writes  it,  "Ne-ah'-gah,"  said  to  be  the  name  of  a  Seneca 
village  which  formerly  existed  on  the  Niagara  River  below 
Lewiston,  and  now  applied  by  the  Senecas  to  Lake  Ontario. 
This  derivation,  however,  cannot  be  correct,  for  Onguiaahra, 
and  its  counterpart  Ongiara,  were  in  use  as  names  of  the  river 
and  falls  long  before  the  Seneca  village  in  question  was  in 
existence.  The  Neutral  Nation,  from  whose  language  the  words 
were  taken,  lived  on  both  borders  of  the  Niagara  until  they  were 
exterminated  by  the  Senecas  in  1643.  It  is  far  more  probable 
the  Nyah'-gaah'  is  a  reappearance  of  Ongiara  in  the  Seneca 
dialect,  and  this  view  is  strengthened  by  the  fact  that  the  former, 
unlike  most  Iroquois  names,  is  without  meaning,  and  as  the 
aborigines  do  not  confer  arbitrary  names,  it  is  an  evidence  that 
it  has  been  borrowed  or  derived  from  a  foreign  language.  The 
conclusion  then  is,  that  the  French  derived  Niagara  from 
Ongiara,  and  the  Senecas,  when  they  took  possession  of  the 
territories  of  the  Neutral  Nation,  adopted  the  name  Ongiara, 
as  near  as  the  idiom  of  their  language  would  allow,  and  hence 
their  name  Nyah'-gaah'. 


Chapter  IX 
Niagara  under  Three  Flags 

THE  abdication  of  De  Nonville  at  Niagara  marks, 
as  nothing  else  perhaps  can,  the  rise  of  English 
influence  along  the  Lakes  and  among  the 
crafty  Iroquois.  Slowly  but  surely  this  in- 
fluence made  itself  felt  among  the  Six  Nations  in  the 
attempt  to  swing  the  entire  current  of  the  fur  trade 
from  the  north-west  through  the  Long  House  to 
New  York. 

With  the  destruction  of  the  little  fort  built  by  De 
Nonville,  however,  it  becomes  clear  that  when  on  the 
same  basis  the  English  were  no  match  for  the  French, 
so  far  as  winning  the  redskins  to  their  interests  was 
concerned;  it  may  be  that  with  the  withdrawal  of 
the  French  there  followed  a  natural  diminution  of 
English  anxiety  and  activity  in  the  matter:  whether 
this  was  true  or  not  there  immediately  ensued  a  notable 
increase  of  French  attention  to  the  Six  Nations  who, 
after  all,  controlled  the  destinies  of  this  key  of  the 
continent.  As  days  of  war  and  days  of  peace  came  and 
went  the  governors  both  of  New  York  and  Quebec 
sought  permission  to  fortify  the  Niagara  River,  but 
the  eighteenth  century  dawned  with  no  step  taken 
by  either  side,  though  each  had  most  jealously  been 
watching  the  other. 

It  was  characteristic  of  Frenchmen,   however,   to 

196 


Niagara  under  Three  Flags  197 

meet  and  mingle  with  the  Indians  as  the  English 
seldom  did;  it  was  not  wholly  out  of  the  common, 
indeed,  for  them  to  adopt  Indian  dress  and  customs 
and  be,  in  turn,  adopted  into  some  Indian  tribe. 
Through  the  fortunate  influence  exerted  by  one  of 
these  adopted  sons  of  the  wilderness  was  New  France 
now  able  to  refortify  the  strategic  Niagara  region, 
temporarily  besting  England  in  the  contest  for  the  su- 
premacy here.  Chabert  Joncaire,  taken  prisoner  by 
the  Senecas  and  adopted  into  their  tribe,  married  an 
Indian  woman  and  became  an  important  factor  among 
the  warriors  and  war  councils  of  the  western  end  of 
the  Long  House.  In  the  year  1700  Joncaire  became 
a  missionary  for  the  French  political  cause,  and  he 
seems  to  have  managed  affairs  so  diplomatically  that 
he  in  no  wise  lost  caste  among  the  Iroquois,  for  six 
years  later  they  suggested  to  him  "to  establish  him- 
self among  them,  granting  him  liberty  to  select  on 
their  territory  the  place  most  acceptable  to  himself 
for  the  purpose  of  living  and  in  peace,  even  to  remove 
their  villages  to  the  neighbourhood  of  his  residence  in 
order  to  protect  him."  * 

In  the  next  decade  France  made  considerable 
headway  in  undoing  the  miserable  work  of  De  Non- 
ville  by  disarming  the  hostility  of  the  Iroquois,  espe- 
cially with  the  Senecas  who  held  the  Niagara  frontier, 
through  Joncaire,  who  in  17 19  was  sent  to  "try  the 
minds  of  the  Seneca  nation  and  ascertain  if  it 
would  permit  the  building  of  a  French  house  in  their 

1  Colonial  Documents  of  New  York,  vol.  ix.,  p.  773 ;  in  the  history  of  the 
French  regime  at  Niagara  special  acknowledgment  must  be  made  to 
Porter's  Brief  History  of  Old  Fort  Niagara  (Niagara  Falls,  1896),  which 
is  particularly  rich  in  references  to  the  important  sources  of  information 
concerning  the  French  along  and  at  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara  River. 


198  The  Niagara  River 

country."  As  a  result,  in  1720,  Joncaire  built  a  bark 
cabin  at  Lewiston  which  he  called  "Magazine  Royal." 
In  November  of  that  year,  according  to  English  report, 
which  was  undoubtedly  exaggerated  through  preju- 
dice, the  "cabin"  is  described  as  a  blockhouse  forty 
feet  in  length  and  thirty  in  width,  enclosed  with 
palisades,  musket-proof  and  provided  with  port-holes. 
The  location  of  this  post  signifies  of  itself  alone  the 
larger  strategic  nature  of  Niagara  geographically, 
for  it  was  not  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  but  at  the 
beginning  of  the  portage  around  the  Rapids  and  Falls, 
at  Lewiston,  just  where  La  Salle's  storehouse,  built 
in  1679,  had  stood.  It  is  believed  that  the  former 
building  had  disappeared  by  this  time.  Charlevoix, 
who  came  here  the  next  year,  1721,  confounds  the 
sites  of  De  Nonville's  fort  and  the  "Magazine  Royal." 
Mr.  Porter  brings  out  well  the  office  of  Joncaire 's 
cabin,  in  which,  by  the  way,  a  few  soldiers  were 
maintained  as  "traders"  by  saying: 

.  .  .  The  trade  in  furs  was  brisk,  the  Indians  from  the 
north,  west,  and  south  coming  there  to  barter.  The  chain  of 
friendship  with  the  Senecas  was  kept  bright  by  friendly  inter- 
course with  their  warriors,  who  constantly  came  there;  French 
trading  vessels  came  often  to  its  rude  wharf  bringing  merchan- 
dise to  Frontenac  and  returning  laden  with  furs.  Thus  the  Eng- 
lish for  the  first  time  failed  to  overcome  the  French,  while  the 
English  in  New  York  did  not  delay  their  expostulations  regard- 
ing what  they  called  French  incroachment  at  Niagara;  but  so 
far  were  they  from  being  successful  that  the  French  were  able 
within  four  years  to  begin  a  more  important  fortification  on 
the  site  of  the  "Magazine  Royal." 

American    history   furnishes  many  illustrations  of 
the  genius  of  the  French  coiirenrs-dc-bois  for  winning 


Stones  on  the  Site  of  Joncaire's  Cabin  under  Lewiston  Heights, 
where  the  Magazine  Royal  was  Erected  in  17 19. 


Niagara  under  Three  Flags  199 

to  themselves  the  friendship  of  the  Indians,  but  perhaps 
there  is  no  specific  illustration  of  this  more  clear  than 
this  reabsorption  of  the  Niagara  region  after  having 
once  abandoned  it.     Said  Sir  Guy  Carleton: 

France  did  not  depend  upon  the  number  of  her  troops,  but 
upon  the  discretion  of  her  officers  who,  learned  the  language  of 
her  natives,  distributed  the  king's  presents,  excited  no  jealousy, 
entirely  gained  the  affections  of  an  ignorant,  credulous,  but 
brave  people,  whose  ruling  passions  are  independence,  gratitude, 
and  revenge. 

Governor  Duquesne  once  said  to  a  deputation  of 
Indians: 

Are  you  ignorant  of  the  defence  between  the  king  of  France 
and  the  English?  Look  at  the  forts  which  the  king  has  built; 
you  will  find  that  under  their  very  walls  the  beasts  of  the  forests 
are  hunted  and  slain;  that  they  are,  in  fact,  fixed  in  places 
most  frequented  by  you  merely  to  gratify  more  conveniently 
your  necessities. 

M.  Garneau,  the  historian,  frankly  acknowledges 
that  the  Marquis  accurately  stated  the  route  of  Indian 
admiration  for  the  Frenchmen  they  saw;  but  it 
should  not  be  overlooked  that  the  French  also  were 
"the  most  romantic  and  poetic  characters  ever  known 
in  American  frontier  life.  Their  every  moment  at- 
tracts the  rosiest  colour  of  imagination";  all  this  helps 
to  fascinate  the  savage. 

In  1725,  the  Marquis  De  Vaudreuil  proposed  the 
erection  of  a  storehouse  at  Niagara,  and  soon  the  agent 
met  the  council  of  the  Five  Nations  and  got  their  per- 
mission to  build  what  was  really  a  fort  at  Niagara,  which 
was  to  cost  $5592;  one  hundred  men  were  instantly 
sent  to  begin  the  work.1      Thus  the  historic  pile  known 

1  Colonial  Documents  of  New  York,  vol.  ix.,  pp.  952,  958. 


200  The  Niagara  River 

as  the  "Mess  House"  or  "  Castle"  was  begun  in  1725 
and  completed  in  1726;  at  a  council  fire  at  Niagara  the 
Senecas  gave  their  final  ratification  to  this  project, 
July   14,  1726. 

Joncaire's  "Magazine  Royal"  was  permitted  to 
fall  into  decay,  being  abandoned  in  1728  despite  the 
fact  that  Louis  XV.  gave  his  approval  to  a  plan  for 
spending  twenty  thousand  livres  for  its  repair  although 
approving  strongly  the  erection  of  the  castle,  as  it 
would  prevent  the  English  from  trading  on  the  north 
shore  of  Lake  Ontario  as  well  as  getting  a  foothold  on 
the  Niagara  River.  Mr.  Porter  brings  out  well  the 
service  of  Joncaire's  "Magazine  Royal"  by  saying: 

That  building  had  done  good  service ;  it  had  given  the  French 
the  desired  foothold  on  the  Niagara  River;  it  had  held  and 
fostered  the  trade  in  furs ;  it  had  established  French  supremacy 
in  this  region,  and  furnished  them  with  the  key  to  the  possession 
of  the  Upper  Lakes  and  the  Ohio  Valley;  and  last,  and  most 
important  of  all,  it  had  been  the  means  of  France  obtaining 
a  real  fortress  at  the  point  where  her  diplomats  and  armies 
had  been  waiting  to  erect  one;  for  over  half  a  century  it  had 
served  its  purposes;  a  fort  had  been  built  at  the  mouth  of  the 
river,  its  usefulness  was  ended,  and  it  was  abandoned  forever. 

The  story  that  the  foundations  of  the  castle  were 
laid  within  a  gigantic  wigwam  at  a  time  when  the 
French  had  induced  the  Indians  to  go  on  a  hunting 
expedition  is  probably  no  less  true  than  most  legends 
of  the  kind  with  which  our  history  is  filled ;  and  if  it 
is  not  literally  true,  the  spirit  of  it  undoubtedly  is, 
for  there  must  have  been  a  fine  story  of  stratagem 
and  diplomacy  in  the  conception  and  the  erection  of 
this  massive  old  building  upon  which  the  tourist 
looks  to-day  with  much  interest.     It  is  also  a  legend 


Niagara  under  Three  Flags  201 

that  the  stone  for  the  fort  was  brought  from  Fort 
Frontenac;  this  in  a  way  threatens  the  authenticity 
of  the  former  legend  of  the  magical  erection  of  the 
building.  De  Witt  Clinton  writing  in  18 10  explains 
that  as  the  stones  about  the  windows  are  different 
and  more  handsome  than  those  in  the  rest  of  the 
building  it  is  possible  that  they  were  brought  from 
Kingston;  he  gave  the  measurements  of  the  building 
as  105  by  47  feet. 

It  is  interesting  and  informing  to  observe  from 
whence  the  fort  here  at  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara 
received,  first  and  last,  its  armament;  it  appears  that 
upon  the  capture  of  Oswego  twenty-four  guns  "of 
the  largest  calibre"  were  sent  to  Fort  Niagara,  and  we 
know  that  during  the  final  siege  in  1759  some  of  the 
guns  trained  upon  Johnson's  army  were  lost  by  Brad- 
dock  away  down  in  the  forests  beside  the  Mononga- 
hela  River.  The  position  held  by  Fort  Niagara  in 
the  French  scheme  of  western  occupation  is  clearly 
suggested  by  these  facts. 

The  modern  tourist  looking  upon  the  massive, 
picturesque  "Mess  House"  must  not  forget  that 
"Fort  Niagara"  was  a  thing  of  slow  growth.  The 
first  work  here  was  undoubtedly  the  foundation  and 
first  story  of  the  Mess  House,  surrounded  by  the 
common  picket  wall  always  found  around  the  frontier 
fort.  The  first  picket  wall  was  falling  down  by  1739, 
when  it  was  repaired.  At  this  time  Niagara  was  fast 
losing  its  hold  on  western  trade  because  of  the  en- 
forcing of  the  policy  of  not  selling  the  Indians  liquor; 
however,  in  1741,  the  Governor  of  New  York  affirmed 
that  he  held  the  Six  Nations  only  by  presents  and  that 
Fort  Niagara  must  be  captured.     In  1745,  when  the 


202  The  Niagara  River 

French  policy  regarding  the  Indians  was  changed, 
Fort  Niagara  contained  only  a  hundred  men  and  four 
guns.  It  is  said  that  the  fort  had  been  used  to  some 
extent  as  a  State  prison;  surely  few  French  prisons, 
at  home  or  abroad,  had  a  more  gloomy  dungeon  than 
that  in  Fort  Niagara  which  is  shown  visitors  to-day; 
the  apartment  measures  six  by  eighteen  feet  and  ten 
feet  in  height,  of  solid  stone  with  no  opening  for  light 
or  air.  The  well  of  the  castle  was  located  here,  and 
many  a  weird  story  attaches,  especially  of  the  headless 
trunk  of  the  French  general  that  haunted  the  curb- 
stone moaning  over  his  sorry  lot.  This  dungeon  is  one 
of  the  places  named  as  the  scene  of  imprisonment  of 
the  anti-Masonic  agitator  William  Morgan  in  later 
days. 

As  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  drew  on 
France  and  England  turned  from  the  European  bat- 
tlefields to  America  to  settle  their  immemorial  quarrel 
for  the  possession  of  the  continent.  It  is  interest- 
ing to  note  that  the  opening  of  the  struggle  occurred 
not  in  the  North  or  East,  as  would  naturally  be  ex- 
pected, but  in  the  West  to  which  Niagara  offered  "the 
communication. 

In  1747  the  Ohio  Company  was  formed  in  Virginia 
and  received  its  grant  of  land  beyond  the  Alleghanies 
from  the  British  King.  With  the  exception  of  Lederer, 
whose  explorations  did  not  reach  westward  of  Harper's 
Ferry,  and  Batts,  who  had  visited  the  Falls  of  the  Great 
Kanawha,  the  English  colonies  knew  little  or  nothing 
of  the  West,  save  only  the  fables  brought  back  by 
Spottswood's  Knights  of  the  Golden  Horseshoe.  But 
the  doughty  Irish  and  Scotch  -  Irish  traders  had 
pierced  the  mountains  and  made  bold  to  challenge  the 


Niagara  under  Three  Flags  203 

trade  of  the  French  with  the  western  nations.  Imme- 
diately Celoron  was  sent  from  Montreal  on  the  long 
voyage  by  way  of  Niagara  to  bury  his  leaden  plates 
on  the  Ohio  to  re-establish  the  brave  claim  incised  on 
La  Salle's  plate  buried  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi 
in  1682,  which  vaunted  French  possession  of  all  lands 
drained  by  waters  entering  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  through 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi. 

Celoron 's  expedition  is  interesting  because  this 
was  the  first  open  .advance  upon  the  Ohio  Valley 
by  France,  leading  to  the  building  of  a  chain  of  forts 
westward  from  the  key  position,  Fort  Niagara.  Celo- 
ron's  Journal  reads: 

I  arrived  at  Niagara  on  the  6th  of  July,  where  I  found  him 
[Mr.  Labrevois];  we  conferred  together,  and  I  wrote  to  the 
Chevalier  de  Longnaiul  that  which  I  had  learned  from  Mr. 
de  la  Nardiere,  and  desired  him,  that  if  these  nations  of  Detroit 
were  in  the  design  to  come  and  join  me,  and  not  delay  his  depart- 
ure, I  would  give  the  rendezvous  at  Strotves1  on  the  9th  or  10th 
of  August;  that  if  they  had  changed  their  mind  I  would  be 
obliged  to  him  to  send  me  couriers  to  inform  me  of  their  inten- 
tions, so  that  I  may  know  what  will  happen  to  me.  On  the 
7th  of  July,  I  sent  M.  de  Contrecceur,  captain  and  second  in 
command  of  the  detachment,  with  the  subaltern  officers  and  all 
my  canoes  to  make  the  portage.  I  remained  at  the  fort,  to 
wait  for  my  savages  who  had  taken  on  Lake  Ontario  another 
route  than  I  had;  having  rejoined  me  I  went  to  the  portage 
which  M.  de  Contrecceur  had  made,  on  the  14th  of  the  same 
month  we  entered  Lake  Erie;  a  high  wind  from  the  sea  made 
me  camp  some  distance  from  the  little  rapid;  there  I  formed 
three  companies  to  mount  guard,  which  were  of  forty  men 
commanded  by  an  officer. 

Returning  from  the  Ohio  trip  Celoron  reached 
Niagara  again  the  19th  of  February,  1750,  and  Montreal 

1  Logstown? 


204  The  Niagara  River 

the  ioth  of  March.  At  last  reaching  Quebec  the  frank 
leader  of  this  spectacular  expedition  rendered  his 
report  concerning  French  possession  of  the  West.  "All 
that  I  can  say  is,  that  the  [Indian]  nations  of  these 
places  are  very  ill-disposed  against  the  French," 
were  his  words,  "and  entirely  devoted  to  the  English. 
I  do  not  know  by  what  means  they  can  be  reclaimed." 
Then  followed  one  of  the  earliest  suggestions  of  the 
use  of  French  arms  to  retain  possession  of  the  great 
interior.  "If  violence  is  employed  they  [Indians] 
would  be  warned  and  take  to  flight  ...  if  we  send 
to  trade  with  them,  our  traders  can  never  give  our 
merchandize  at  the  price  the  English  do  .  .  .  people 
our  old  posts  and  perpetuate  the  nations  on  the  Belle 
Riviere  and  who  are  within  the  reach  of  the  English 
Government." 

The  plates  of  lead  along  the  Ohio  had  very  little 
effect  in  retarding  the  Ohio  Company  of  Virginians, 
and  Celoron  had  hardly  left  the  Ohio  Valley  when 
Christopher  Gist  entered  it  to  pick  out  and  mark  the 
boundaries  of  the  Ohio  Company's  grant  of  land. 
This  was  in  1750.  The  Quebec  Government,  too, 
acted.  If  leaden  plates  would  not  hold  the  Ohio,  then 
forts  well  guarded  and  manned  would  accomplish 
the  end  sought;  and  English  spies  on  watch  at  Fort 
Oswego  now  saw  a  strange  flotilla  crossing  Lake  Ontario 
and  knew  something  extraordinary  was  in  the  air. 
It  was  Marin's  party  on  its  way  to  fortify  Celoron's 
route  by  building  a  chain  of  posts  from  Fort  Niagara 
to  the  present  site  of  Pittsburg  at  the  junction  of  the 
Allegheny  and  Monongahela  rivers.  After  a  rest  at 
Niagara  the  fort-building  party  proceeded  along  Lake 
Erie  to  Presqu'  Isle,  now  Erie,  Pennsylvania.     There 


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Niagara  under  Three  Flags  205 

they  built  Fort  Presqu'  Isle;  at  Watertown  Fort  La 
Boeuf  was  erected  and  Fort  Machault  at  Franklin  on 
the  Allegheny,  and  Fort  Duquesne  at  the  junction  of  the 
Allegheny  and  Monongahela.  All  this  between  1752 
and  1754,  despite  the  message  sent  by  Governor  Din- 
widdie  of  Virginia  by  the  hand  of  Major  Washington 
requesting  that  the  French  withdraw  from  the  Ohio 
Valley.  In  the  latter  year  Washington  marched 
westward  to  support  the  party  of  Virginian  fort- 
builders  who  had  been  sent  to  fortify  the  strategic 
position  on  the  Ohio,  but  was  forced  to  capitulate  by  the 
French  army,  which  drove  back  the  English  and  on 
their  beginnings  erected  Fort  Duquesne. 

The  line  of  forts  from  Quebec  to  Fort  Duquesne  was 
now  complete,  and  of  them  Fort  Niagara  was  the  key. 
To  wrest  from  the  French  this  western  empire  it  was 
necessary  to  strike  Fort  Niagara,  but,  with  the  rare  lack 
of  foresight  characteristic  of  the  government  headed  by 
the  impossible  Newcastle,  the  great  campaign  of  1755 
was  as  poorly  conceived  as  it  was  executed.  It  was 
composed  of  three  spectacular  advances  on  this  curling 
line  of  French  forts  that  hemmed  in  the  colonies; 
one  army,  under  Sir  William  Johnson,  should  attack 
the  forts  on  Lakes  George  and  Champlain;  Governor 
Shirley  of  Massachusetts  should  leap  at  Fort  Niagara, 
and  General  Braddock,  formerly  commander  of  Gi- 
braltar, should  lead  an  army  from  Virginia  across  the 
mountains  upon  Fort  Duquesne,  after  capturing  which 
he  should  then  join  forces  with  Shirley  for  the  conquest 
of  Niagara  if  that  post  had  not  been  previously  reduced. 

From  almost  any  view-point  the  scheme  of  con- 
quest seems  a  glaring  inconsistency,  but  from  what  is 
this  so  conspicuous  as  by   looking  upon   this   French 


206  The  Niagara  River 

line  of  fortresses  as  a  serpent  whose  head  was  Quebec, 
whose  heart  was  Fort  Niagara,  and  whose  tail  rattled 
luringly  on  the  Ohio  at  Fort  Duquesne?  The  chief 
expedition,  on  which  the  eyes  of  the  ministry  were 
centred,  was  the  one  which  launched  at  this  serpent's 
tail.  Moreover,  in  addition  to  being  wrongly  directed  it 
was  improperly  routed,  since  there  were  both  waggons 
and  wheat  in  Pennsylvania  but  comparatively  none 
in  Virginia,  and  the  ill-fated  commander  of  the  expe- 
dition, General  Edward  Braddock,  was  the  victim  of 
the  lethargy  and  indifference  of  the  colonies. 

It  is  pitifully  interesting  to  observe  in  the  letter 
of  instruction  issued  by  Cumberland  to  Braddock 
that  the  latter  seemed  to  have  held  the  view  that  his 
most  proper  course  was  to  strike  at  Niagara  at  the 
outset,  undoubtedly  appreciating  the  significant  fact 
that  to  capture  that  key  position  of  communication 
was  to  doom  the  Allegheny  line  of  forts  to  starvation 
itself.  "As  to  your  design,"  read  those  instructions, 
"  of  making  yourself  master  of  Niagara,  which  is  of  the 
greatest  consequence,  his  Royal  Highness  recommends 
you  to  leave  nothing  to  chance  in  the  prosecution  of 
that  enterprise."  In  all  that  was  planned  for  this 
grand  campaign  those  words  give  us  the  only  hint 
of  Braddock's  own  notion.1  Those  instructions  also 
advise  that  if  the  Ohio  campaign  should  progress 
slowly  Braddock  was  to  consider  whether  he  should 
not  give  over  the  command  of  that  campaign  to 
another  officer  and  proceed  to  Niagara.  Nothing  could 
illustrate  more  clearly  than  this  the  importance  of 
the  position  of  Niagara  in  the  old  French  War.     But 

1  In  the  author's  Historic  Highways  of  America,  vol.  iv.,  chap.  2,  this 
whole  problem  is  discussed  and  Cumberland's  instructions  quoted. 


Niagara  under  Three  Flags  207 

as  Braddock  did  not  deem  it  wise  to  give  over  the 
command  of  the  Ohio  campaign,  Governor  Shirley 
was  left  in  charge  of  it. 

The  Northern  campaigns,  however,  were  of  little 
more  success  than  that  of  the  ill-fated  Braddock. 
True,  Johnson  won  his  knighthood  beside  the  lake 
to  which  he  gave  his  master's  name,  but  the  victory 
was  as  much  of  an  accident  as  was  Braddock 's  defeat, 
and  was  not  followed  up  with  the  capture  of  the  forts 
on  Lake  Champlain  which  was  the  object  of  the  cam- 
paign. Shirley,  on  the  other  hand,  made  an  utter 
failure  of  his  coup,  after  reaching  Oswego  with  incredi- 
ble hardship;  the  news  of  Braddock's  defeat  demoral- 
ised whatever  spirit  was  left  in  his  sickly  army;  and 
Fort  Niagara  was  not  even  threatened.  We  note  here 
again  the  interdependence  of  the  Braddock  and  Shir- 
ley campaigns,  and  the  pity  that  the  two  armies  could 
not  have  been  combined  for  a  strong  movement 
against  Fort  Niagara.  The  Ohio  fortress  could  not 
have  existed  with  the  line  of  communication  once 
cut,  and  Braddock's  as  well  as  Forbes 's  campaigns, 
costing  such  tremendous  sums,  would  have  been 
unnecessary — or  Prideaux's  in  '59  either,  for  that 
matter. 

And  yet  the  English  campaigns  of  this  year  played 
their  part  in  awakening  the  French  to  the  situation; 
and  Niagara  was  taken  in  hand  at  once,  as  though  the 
presentiment  was  plain  that  the  flag  of  the  Georges 
would  wave  over  the  Niagara  some  day.  Writes 
Mr.  Porter: 

The  contemplated  attack  on  Fort  Niagara,  in  1755,  under 
Shirley,  had  told  the  French  that  that  fort  must  be  further 
strengthened,  and  Pouchot,  a  captain  in  the  regiment  of  Beam, 


2o8  The  Niagara  River 


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and  a  competent  engineer,  was  sent  to  reconstruct  it.  He  reached 
the  fort  with  a  regiment  in  October,  1755.  Houses  for  these 
troops  were  at  once  constructed  in  the  Canadian  manner.  These 
houses  consisted  of  round  logs  of  oak,  notched  into  each  other 
at  the  corners,  and  were  quickly  built.  Each  had  a  chimney 
in  the  middle,  some  windows,  and  a  plank  roof.  The  chimneys 
were  made  by  four  poles',  placed  in  the  form  of  a  truncated 
pyramid,  open  from  the  bottom  to  a  height  of  three  feet  on 
all  sides,  above  which  was  a  kind  of  basket  work,  plastered  with 
mud;  rushes,  marsh  grass  or  straw  rolled  in  diluted  clay  were 
driven  in  between  the  logs,  and  the  whole  plastered.  The  work 
of  strengthening  the  fort  was  pushed  on  all  winter,  300  men 
being  in  the  garrison,  and  in  March,  1756,  the  artillery  taken 
from  Braddock  arrived.  By  July,  1756,  the  defences  proposed 
were  nearly  completed,  and  Pouchot  left  the  fort.  Vaudreuil 
stated  that  he  [Pouchot]  "had  almost  entirely  superintended 
the  fortifications  to  their  completion,  and  the  fort,  which  was 
abandoned  and  beyond  making  the  smallest  resistance,  is  now 
a  place  of  considerable  importance  in  consequence  of  the  regu- 
larity, solidity,  and  utility  of  its  works."  Pouchot  was  sent 
back  to  Niagara,  as  commandant,  with  his  own  regiment,  in 
October,  1756,  and  remained  there  for  a  year.  He  still  further 
strengthened  the  fort  during  this  period,  and  when  he  left  he 
reported  that  "Fort  Niagara  and  its  buildings  were  completed 
and  its  covered  ways  stockaded."  On  April  30,  1759,  he  again 
arrived  at  Niagara  to  assume  command  and  "began  to  work 
on  repairing  the  fort,  to  which  nothing  had  been  done  since  he 
left  it.  He  found  the  ramparts  giving  way,  the  turfing  all 
crumbled  off,  and  the  escarpment  and  counter  escarpment  of 
the  fosses  much  filled  up.  He  mounted  two  pieces  to  keep  up 
appearances  in  case  of  a  siege."  From  the  general  laudatory 
tone  of  his  own  work  we  are  led  to  feel  that  Pouchot  overpraised 
his  own  work  of  fortifying  Niagara  in  1756  and  1757,  when  no 
immediate  attack  was  looked  for,  otherwise  it  could  hardly  have 
been  in  so  poor  a  condition  eighteen  months  afterwards  (1759, 
as  just  quoted),  unless,  as  is  very  likely,  he  foresaw  defeat  when 
attacked,  as  he  was  advised  it  would  be,  and  wanted  to  gain  special 
credit  for  a  grand  defence  under  very  disadvantageous  conditions. 
By  July   Pouchot   had   finished  repairing   the   ramparts.      He 


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Niagara  under  Three  Flags  209 

gives  this  description  of  the  defence:  "The  batteries  of  the 
bastions  which  were  in  barbette  had  not  yet  been  finished.  They 
were  built  of  casks  and  filled  with  earth.  He  had  since  his  arrival 
constructed  some  pieces  of  blindage  of  oak,  fourteen  inches 
square  and  fifteen  feet  long,  which  extended  behind  the  great 
house  on  the  lake  shore,  the  place  most  sheltered  for  a  hospital. 
Along  the  faces  of  the  powder  magazine,  to  cover  the  wall  and 
serve  as  casemates,  he  had  built  a  large  storehouse  with  the 
pieces  secured  at  the  top  by  a  ridge.  Here  the  guns  and  gun- 
smiths were  placed.  We  may -remark  that  this  kind  of  work 
is  excellent  for  field-forts  in  wooded  countries,  and  they  serve 
very  well  for  barracks  and  magazines;  a  bullet  could  only  fall 
upon  an  oblique  surface  and  could  do  little  harm,  because  this 
structure  is  very  solid."  Pouchot  says  that  the  garrison  of  the 
fort  at  this  time  consisted  of  149  regulars,  183  men  of  colonial 
companies,  133  militia  and  21  cannoniers.  A  total  of  486 
soldiers  and  39  employees,  of  whom  5  were  women  or  children. 
These  served  in  the  infirmary,  as  did  also  two  ladies,  and  sewed 
cartridge  bags  and  made  bags  for  earth.  There  were  also  some 
Indians  in  the  fort,  and  the  officers  may  not  have  been  included 
in  this  number.  The  fort  was  capable  of  accommodating  1000 
men. 

The  great  campaigns  of  1759  were  planned  by  the 
new  commander-in-chief,  Sir  Jeffrey  Amherst.  The 
Niagara  attack  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  General 
John  Prideaux,  who  was  ready  to  sail  from  Oswego 
to  his  death  at  Fort  Niagara  on  the  1st  of  July, 
1759,  with  twenty-two  hundred  regulars  and  pro- 
vincials and  seven  hundred  of  the  Six  Nations,  brought 
very  quickly  to  their  senses  after  the  successes  of 
British  arms  in  the  year  previous  when  Fort  Duquesne 
was  captured,  under  Sir  William  Johnson.  On  the  6th  of 
July  a  hunter  brought  word  to  Pouchot  that  the  English 
were  at  the  doors  of  Niagara,  the  army  having  landed 
down  the  shore  of  the  lake  at  a  distance  of  four  miles. 


2io  The  Niagara  River 


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The  commander,  realising  that  the  crucial  moment  had 
come,  sent  a  messenger  post-haste  to  Little  Fort  Niagara, 
at  the  upper  end  of  the  portage,  and  on  to  the  forts  in 
the  West  for  aid;  Niagara  had  assisted  Fort  Duquesne 
and  the  Allegheny  forts  in  their  days  of  trial  and  it 
was  now  turn  for  them  to  help  her.  Little  Fort  Niag- 
ara, or,  more  properly,  Fort  du  Portage,  previously 
mentioned,  was  erected  probably  about  ten  years 
before  this  to  defend  the  portage  landing.  It  was 
now  commanded  by  the  Joncaire — son  of  the  famous 
French  emissary  among  the  Senecas  who  had  given  New 
France  a  foothold  at  Niagara — who  had  proved  such  a 
diplomatic  guide  to  Celoron  in  his  western  trip;  Pou- 
chot  ordered  him  to  move  the  supplies  at  Fort  du  Portage 
across  to  the  mouth  of  the  Chippewa  Creek  and  hasten  to 
Fort  Niagara.  It  is  worth  while  to  pause  a  moment 
to  observe  that  we  have  here  one  of  the  first  references 
to  that  shadowy  western  shore  of  the  Niagara,  where 
Forts  Erie,  George,  and  Mississaga  were  soon  to  appear; 
though  the  town  of  Newark,  or  Niagara-on-the-Lake, 
as  it  is  known  to-day,  was  the  first  settlement  on  this 
side  of  the  river,  it  is  clear  that  there  was  at  least  a 
storehouse  at  Chippewa  Creek  in  1759;  unquestion- 
ably the  portage  path  on  the  western  shore  of  the  river 
was  a  well-worn  highway  long  before  even  Fort  Niag- 
ara itself  was  proposed,  for  we  know  that  it  was  the 
northern  shore  of  Lake  Erie  that  was  the  common 
route  of  the  French  rather  than  the  southern  from 
the  record  left  by  the  Celoron  expedition  and  Bonne- 
camp's  map. 

Prideaux  forced  the  siege  by  digging  a  series  of 
trenches  toward  the  fort,  each  one  in  advance  of  the 
last.    Finally,  just  before  merited  success  was  achieved, 


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A   Sketch  of  Fort  Niagara  and  Environs;  by  the  French  Commander 
Pouchot,   Showing  Improvements  of  1 756-1 758. 


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A  Sketch  of  Fort  Niagara  and  Environs;  by  the  French  Commander 
Pouchot,   Showing  Improvements  of  1 756-1 758. 


Niagara  under  Three  Flags  211 

a  bursting  cohorn  killed  Prideaux  and  thrust  the 
command  upon  that  deserving  but  lucky  son  of  for- 
tune, Sir  William  Johnson.  The  siege  was  pressed 
most  diligently — as  though  Johnson  was  fearful  that 
the  honour  thrust  upon  him  would  escape  him 
through  the  arrival  of  General  Gage,  who  was  on 
his  way  to  assume  command.  The  fort  was  com- 
pletely hemmed  in,  and  its  surrender  was  peremptorily 
demanded.  Johnson  was  more  than  a  match  for  the 
intriguing  French  Indians  who  attempted  to  alienate 
his  Iroquois.  He  likewise  played  the  clever  soldier 
in  handling  the  relieving  army  that  was  already  on  its 
way  from  the  West.  Three  of  the  four  messages 
sent  by  Pouchot  had  been  intercepted  by  the  English 
commander's  scouts.  The  one  that  went  through 
successfully  accomplished  its  purpose  and  twelve  hun- 
dred recruits  were  en  route  for  the  besieged  fortress. 
The  scouts  told  of  their  progress,  to  which  captured 
letters  from  the  commanding  officers,  D 'Aubrey  and 
De  Lignery,  to  General  Pouchot,  gave  added  informa- 
tion. Descending  the  Niagara  from  its  head  to 
Navy  Island,  the  reinforcements  awaited  the  commands 
of  their  general.  The  order  was  to  hasten  on.  John- 
son redistributed  his  force  to  meet  the  crisis,  at  once 
detailing  a  sufficient  part  to  cope  with  the  relieving 
party  and  retaining  a  sufficient  quota  to  prevent  a 
sortie  from  the  rapidly  crumbling  fort,  which  at  best 
could  not  hold  out  longer  unless  succoured.  At  an 
eighth  of  a  mile  from  the  fort,  in  olden  times  called  La 
Belle  Famille,  now  within  the  limits  of  the  beautiful 
village  of  Youngstown,  the  clash  occurred  that  settled 
the  fate  of  the  brave  Pouchot.  With  the  Iroquois 
posted   in   hiding    on   either   flank   and   the    regulars 


2i2  The  Niagara  River 


&■ 


waiting  behind  slight  breastworks,  the  French  force 
rushed  headlong  to  the  attack  within  the  carefully 
laid  ambuscade.  After  the  opening  fire  of  the  Indians, 
the  English  troop  made  a  savage  charge — and  the 
affair  was  over;  the  retreating  French  were  followed 
and  nearly  a  hundred  and  fifty  were  captured,  including 
the  officers. 

Sir  William  Johnson  used  his  leverage  thus  gained 
upon  the  commander  of  the  doomed  fortress  with 
alacrity  and  success,  sending  with  the  officer  who  went 
to  demand  its  surrender  some  of  the  prisoners  captured 
at  the  scrimmage  up  the  river,  who  told  the  story  of 
their  defeat  and  rout.  Had  they  known  it,  they 
might  have  added  that  the  terror-stricken  fugitives 
from  that  field  of  strife  hastened  to  the  fleet  of  boats 
(in  which  they  had  descended  the  Niagara)  and,  steer- 
ing them  all  into  what  is  called  even  to  this  day  Burnt 
Ship  Bay,  on  the  shore  of  Grand  Island,  set  fire  to  the 
entire  flotilla,  lest  the  English  secure  an  added  advan- 
tage ;  and  from  this  fact  may  we  not  draw  the  conclusion 
that  these  French  hoped  to  hold  the  remainder  of  the 
great  western  waterway  even  if  Fort  Niagara  fell? 
They  could  not  use  those  boats  very  well  on  the  lower 
Niagara,  though  with  them  once  in  hand  they  could 
easily  strike  at  Presqu'  Isle  and  Detroit. 

Poor  Pouchot  demanded  the  best  terms  that  he 
dared;  it  was  agreed  that  the  garrison  should  retain 
arms  and  baggage  and  one  cannon  as  they  marched 
out  of  the  battered  shell  of  a  fort  they  had  endeavoured 
to  hold,  and,  upon  laying  down  their  arms,  should 
be  transported,  in  vessels  furnished  by  the  English,  to 
New  York;  it  was  also  demanded  that  they  should  be 
protected  from  the  insults  of  the  redskin  allies  of  the 


Canadian  Trapper,  from  La  Potherie. 


Niagara  under  Three  Flags  213 


English.  That  the  latter  stipulation  was  agreed  to  and 
honestly  enforced  illustrates  the  genuine  hold  Johnson 
had  upon  his  brown  brethren  of  the  Long  House.  The 
articles  were  signed  on  the  night  of  July  24th  and  on 
the  25th  the  flag  of  England  rose  to  the  breeze  that 
fanned  the  lake  and  the  wide-sweeping  Niagara  frontier 
— the  second  flag  that  had  dominated  that  strategic 
spot  in  the  century.  The  garrison  numbered  over 
six  hundred  men  and  eleven  officers;  the  French  total 
loss  was  about  two  hundred  including  the  action  at 
Youngstown;  the  English  loss  was  sixty  killed  and 
180  wounded.  Forty- three  iron  cannon  were  found 
within  the  fort,  fifteen  hundred  round  shot,  forty 
thousand  pounds  of  musket-balls,  five  hundred  hand 
grenades,  and  many  tools,  etc.  The  important  result, 
however,  was  the  removal  of  French  domination  over 
the  warlike  Seneca  nation  in  this  region  and  the  natural 
inheritance  that  came  with  Niagara,  the  trade  of 
which  it  was  the  centre.  Near  the  site  of  the  destroyed 
Fort  du  Portage,  at  the  upper  end  of  the  portage, 
Captain  Schlosser  erected  Fort  Schlosser.  Fort  Niagara 
itself  was  improved;  the  present  "bakehouse"  was 
built  in  1762.  The  Niagara  of  this  time  has  been  well 
described  by  Mr.  Porter: 

It  was  the  head  centre  of  the  military  life  of  the  entire 
region,  the  guardian  of  the  great  highway  and  portage  to  and 
from  the  West ;  and  hereabouts,  as  the  forerunners  of  a  coming 
civilisation  and  frontier  settlement,  the  traders  were  securing 
for  themselves  the  greatest  advantages.  To  the  rude  transient 
population — red  hunters,  trappers,  Indianised  bush-rangers — 
starting  out  from  this  centre,  or  returning  from  their  journeys 
of  perhaps  hundreds  of  miles,  trooping  down  the  portage  to  the 
fort,  bearing  their  loads  of  peltries,  and  assisted  by  Indians 
who  here  made  a  business  of  carrying  packs  for  hire,   Fort 


214  The  Niagara  River 

Niagara  was  a  business  headquarters.  There  the  traders  brought 
their  guns  and  ammunition,  their  blankets,  and  cheap  jewelry, 
to  be  traded  for  furs;  there  the  Indians  purchased,  at  fabulous 
prices,  the  white  man's  "fire  water,"  and  many,  yes,  numberless 
were  the  broils  and  conflicts  in  and  around  the  fort,  when  the 
soldiers  under  orders  tried  to  calm  or  eject  the  savage  element 
which  so  predominated  in  the  life  of  the  Garrison. 

Pontiac's  rebellion  came  fast  on  the  heels  of  the 
old  French  War,  so  fast  indeed  that  we  cannot  really 
distinguish  the  line  of  division  except  for  the  fact  of 
English  occupation  of  Fort  Niagara;  with  astonishing 
alacrity  the  incorrigible  Senecas  took  up  Pontiac's 
bloody  belt,  especially  disgruntled  with  English  rule 
in  the  Niagara  country  because  the  carrying  business 
at  the  Niagara  portage  had  been  taken  away  from 
them  upon  the  introduction  of  clumsy  carts  which  car- 
ried to  Fort  Schlosser  what  had  before  been  transported 
on  the  backs  of  Seneca  braves.  The  retaliation  for  this 
serious  loss  of  business  was  the  terrible  Devil's  Hole 
Massacre  of  September  14,  1763,  which  occurred  on  the 
new  portage  road  between  Fort  Schlosser  and  Lewiston 
at  the  head  of  what  is  known  as  Bloody  Brook,  in  the 
ravine  of  which  at  the  Gorge  lies  the  Devil's  Hole.  Here 
a  party  of  five  hundred  Senecas  from  Chenussio, 
seventy  miles  to  the  eastward  of  Niagara,  waylaid 
a  train  of  twenty-five  waggons  and  a  hundred  horses 
and  oxen,  guarded,  probably  indifferently,  by  a  detach- 
ment of  troops  variously  estimated  from  twenty-five 
to  three  hundred  in  number,  on  its  way  from  Lewiston 
to  the  upper  fort.  But  three  seem  to  have  escaped 
that  deadly  ambuscade,  and  a  relieving  party,  coming 
hurriedly  at  the  instance  of  one  of  the  survivors,  ran 
into  a  second  ambush,  in  which  all  but  eight  out  of 


> 
p 

o 


p* 


Niagara  under  Three  Flags  215 

two  companies  of  men  escaped.  On  the  third  attempt 
the  commander  of  the  fort  hastened  to  the  bloody  scene 
with  all  of  the  troops  at  his  command  except  what 
were  needed  to  defend  the  fort.  But  the  redskins 
had  gone,  leaving  eighty  scalped  corpses  on  the  ground. 
The  first  convoy  probably  numbered  about  twenty- 
five  and  the  relieving  party  probably  twice  that 
number.  The  Indians  had  thrown  or  driven  every 
team  and  all  the  whites  surviving  the  fire  of  their 
thirsty  muskets  over  the  brink  of  the  great  ravine 
in  which  lies  the  Devil's  Hole,  fitly  named. 

At  the  great  treaty  that  Sir  William  Johnson  now 
held  at  Niagara  with  all  the  western  Indians — one  of 
the  most  remarkable  convocations  ever  convened  on 
this  continent — the  Senecas  were  compelled  to  surrender 
to  the  English  Government  all  right  to  a  tract  four 
miles  wide  on  each  side  of  the  Niagara  River  from 
Fort  Niagara  to  Fort  Schlosser.  When  it  came  time  to 
sign  the  articles  agreeing  to  this  grant,  Johnson,  at  the 
suggestion  of  General  Bradstreet,  who  had  in  mind  a 
fortification  of  the  present  site  of  Fort  Erie,  asked  to 
extend  the  grant  to  include  all  land  bordering  the 
entire  river  from  mouth  to  source  and  for  four  miles 
back.  To  this  the  Senecas  agreed,  but  signed  the 
treaty,  as  it  were,  with  their  left  hands,  never  intending 
to  keep  it.  However,  it  is  to  this  date  that  we  trace 
first  actual  white  man's  ownership  of  the  first  foot  of 
land  on  the  Niagara  frontier,  save  perhaps  the  enclosure 
at  Fort  Niagara.  Until  this  agreement  was  reached 
Sir  William  refused  to  deal  with  the  gathered  host 
of  Indians  from  the  West;  thus  was  the  Devil's  Hole 
Massacre  avenged. 

Over   two   thousand    Indians    had   met    to   treat 


216  The  Niagara  River 

with  the  now  famous  Indian  Commissioner  for  the 
Crown,  coming  from  Nova  Scotia  in  the  East  and  the 
head  streams  of  the  Mississippi  River  in  the  West ;  that 
Niagara  should  have  been  the  chosen  meeting-place 
illustrates  again  its  geographical  position  on  the 
continent.  Shrewd  at  this  form  of  procrastinating 
business,  Sir  William  laid  down  the  policy  of  treaty 
with  each  tribe  separately  and  not  with  the  nations 
as  such,  and  this,  added  to  the  formality  observed, 
tended  to  make  the  procedure  of  almost  endless 
duration.  But  Johnson  knew  his  host  and  it  is  said 
on  good  authority  that  the  vast  sum  now  invested  by 
the  Crown  paid  good  interest;  the  congress  cost  about 
ten  thousand  dollars  in  New  York  currency,  and  about 
two  hundred  thousand  was  distributed  in  presents 
to  the  vast  assemblage.  "Though  this  assemblage 
consisted  of  peace-desiring  savages,  their  friendly 
disposition  was  not  certain.  Several  straggling  soldiers 
were  shot  at,  and  great  precautions  were  taken  by  the 
English  garrison  to  avert  a  rupture."  Writes  the 
graphic  Parkman:  "The  troops  were  always  on 
their  guard,  while  the  black  muzzles  of  the  cannons, 
thrust  from  the  bastions  of  the  fort,  struck  a  wholesome 
awe  into  the  savage  throng  below." 

The  Fort  Niagara  of  that  day  little  resembled  the 
sight  that  greets  the  tourist's  eye  at  that  point  to-day. 
When  the  French  built  the  "  Mess  House"  or  "  Castle" 
they  built  one  story  only,  but  afterward  added  a 
second,  the  walls  of  which  probably  extended  above 
the  roof  to  serve  as  a  breastwork  for  gunners.  The 
present  roof  is  an  English  addition,  comparatively 
modern.  The  French  built  also  the  two  famous 
block-houses,  the  walls  of  which  also  protruded  from 


fa 


sis 


.u  pq 


B   o 


ri   .5 


~  i 

3  ~ 
x 


Niagara  under  Three  Flags  217 

the  ancient  roof  for  the  same  purpose  as  on  the  ' '  Mess 
House,"  and  these  were  used  as  late  as  the  War  of  181 2. 
The  old  Magazine  was  built  by  the  French,  but  its 
present-day  roof  is,  of  course,  of  modern  construction, 
being  in  reality  nothing  but  a  covering  over  the 
stone  arch  which  was  the  ancient  roof.  So  far  as 
appearance  goes  the  waters  of  the  hungry  lake  have 
probably  done  more  altering  of  the  natural  aspect 
than  has  the  hand  of  man.  The  fantastic  "castle" 
now  stands  close  to  the  water's  edge,  whereas,  in  the 
olden  time  there  were  upwards  of  thirty  rods  of  ground 
between  the  "Mess  House"  and  the  lake,  supporting 
an  orchard.  The  present  stone  wall  was  erected  in 
1839,  and  the  brick  walls  constructed  outside  the  old 
line  of  breastworks  in  1861;  four  years  later  the 
lighthouse  was  established  in  the  upper  story  of  the 
"Castle";  in  1873  the  present  lighthouse  was  erected. 

No  serious  conflict  now  marked  England's  rule  in 
her  new  territory,  and  the  people  of  Canada,  and  es- 
pecially of  the  Niagara  region,  had  now  comparatively 
a  few  years'  repose,  but  then  came  one  of  the  most 
important  periods  in  its  history.  Their  country  was 
invaded,  and  for  a  time  seemed  on  the  point  of  passing 
under  the  control  of  the  Congress  of  the  old  Thirteen 
Colonies,  now  in  rebellion  against  England.  Only 
the  genius  of  an  able  governor-general  saved  the 
valley  of  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  British  Crown. 

In  the  year  1774,  Parliament  intervened  for  the 
first  time  in  Canadian  affairs,  and  passed  what  was 
known  as  the  "Quebec  Act,"  which  greatly  extended 
the  boundaries  of  the  province  of  Quebec,  as  defined 
by  the  Proclamation  of  1 763.  On  one  side  the  province 
now  extended  to  the  frontiers  of  New  England,  Pennsyl- 


218  The  Niagara  River 

vania,  New  York  Province,  the  Ohio,  and  the  left  bank 
of  the  Mississippi;  on  the  other  to  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Territory;  Labrador,  Anticosti,  and  the  Magdalen 
Islands,  annexed  to  Newfoundland  by  the  Proclama- 
tion of  1763,  were  made  part  of  the  province  of  Quebec. 
The  "  Quebec  Act"  created  much  debate  in  the  House 
of  Commons.  The  Earl  of  Chatham,  in  the  House  of 
Lords,  described  it  as  a  "most  cruel  and  odious  meas- 
ure." The  opposition  in  the  province  was  among  the 
British  inhabitants,  who  sent  over  a  petition  for  its  re- 
peal or  amendment,  their  principal  grievance  being 
that  it  substituted  the  laws  and  usages  of  Canada  for 
English  law.  The  "Act  of  1774"  was  exceedingly  un- 
popular in  the  English-speaking  colonies,  then  at  the 
commencement  of  the  Revolution,  on  account  of  the 
extension  of  the  limits  of  the  province  so  as  to  include 
the  country  long  known  as  the  "Old  North-west"  in 
American  history,  and  the  consequent  confinement  of 
the  Thirteen  Colonies  between  the  Atlantic  coast  and 
the  Alleghany  Mountains,  beyond  which  the  hardy 
and  bold  frontiersmen  of  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania 
were  already  passing  into  the  great  valley  of  the 
Ohio.  Parliament,  however,  appears  to  have  been 
influenced  by  a  desire  to  adjust  the  government  of 
the  province  so  as  to  conciliate  the  majority  of  the 
Canadian  people  at  the  critical  time. 

The  advice  of  Sir  Guy  Carleton,  afterwards  Lord 
Dorchester,  who  succeeded  General  Murray  as 
Governor-General,  had  much  to  do  with  the  liberality 
of  the  "Quebec  Act"  towards  the  French  Canadians. 
He  crossed  the  Atlantic  in  1 769  and  remained  absent 
from  Canada  for  four  years.  He  returned  to  carry 
out  the  "Quebec  Act,"  which  was  the  foundation  of 


Niagara  under  Three  Flags  219 

the  large  political  and  religious  liberties  which  French 
Canada  has  ever  since  enjoyed.  The  "Act"  aroused 
the  indignation  of  the  older  American  colonies, 
and  had  considerable  influence  in  directing  the  early 
course  of  the  Revolution  which  ended  in  the  establish- 
ment of  a  federal  republic.  To  it  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  refers  as  follows:  "Abolishing  the  free 
system  of  English  laws  in  a  neighbouring  province, 
establishing  therein  an  arbitrary  government,  and 
enlarging  its  boundaries  so  as  to  render  it  at  once  an 
example  and  fit  instrument  for  introducing  the  same 
absolute  rule  in  other  colonies."  During  the  Revolu- 
tion the  Continental  Congress  attempted  to  secure  the 
active  alliance  of  Canada,  and  to  that  end  sent  a  com- 
mission made  up  of  Franklin,  Chase,  Charles  Carroll, 
and  John  Carroll  to  Quebec ;  but  the  province  remained 
loyal  throughout.  It  will  be  noticed  in  another  chap- 
ter that  General  Brock,  in  answering  the  "Procla- 
mation" issued  by  Hull  in  181 2,  voiced  the  belief 
that  Canada  was  the  price  the  American  Colonies  had 
promised  to  pay  France  in  return  for  her  valuable  aid 
in  the  Revolution ! 

It  is  not  necessary  to  dwell  here  on  the  events 
of  a  war  the  history  of  which  is  so  familiar  to  every 
one.1     When    the  first   Continental  Congress  met   at 

1  The  record  of  these  bloody  years  is  hinted  in  the  number  of  prison- 
ers brought  to  Niagara.     On  this  topic  Frank  H.  Severance  writes  *  : 

"Just  how  many  American  prisoners  were  brought  into  Fort  Niagara 

*  In  Old  Trails  on  the  Niagara  Frontier,  pp.  89-91.  Mr.  Severance, 
Secretary  of  the  Buffalo  Historical  Society,  has  ably  taken  the  place  of 
the  eminent  scholar  of  the  Niagara  country  O.  H.  Marshall.  In  his  vol- 
ume  above  quoted  Mr.  Severance  provides  a  most  interesting,  scholarly 
series  of  papers  which  no  one  who  loves  New  York's  old  frontier  should 
miss.  Our  story  of  the  famine  at  De  Nonville's  fort  was  written  with 
Mr.  Severance's  book  open  before  us. 


220  The  Niagara  River 

Philadelphia  on  September  5,  1774,  the  colonies  were 
on  the  eve  of  independence  as  a  result  of  the  coercive 
measures  forced  on  Parliament  by  the  King's  pliable 
ministers  led  by  Lord  North.  The  "Declaration," 
however,  was  not  finally  proclaimed  until  nearly  two 
years  later,  on  July  4,  1776,  when  the  Thirteen  Colo- 

during  this  period  I  am  unable  to  say,  though  it  is  possible  that  from  the 
official  correspondence  of  the  time  figures  could  be  had  on  which  a  very- 
close  estimate  could  be  based.  My  examination  of  the  subject  warrants 
the  assertion  that  several  hundred  were  brought  in  by  the  war-parties 
under  Indian,  British,  and  Tory  leaders.  In  this  correspondence,  very 
little  of  which  has  ever  been  published,  one  may  find  such  entries  as  the 
following: 

"Guy  Johnson  wrote  from  Fort  Niagara,  June  30,  1781 : 

"  '  In  my  last  letter  of  the  24th  inst.  I  had  just  time  to  enclose  a  copy 
of  Lieut.  Nelles's  letter  with  an  account  of  his  success,  since  which  he 
arrived  at  this  place  with  more  particular  information  by  which  I  find 
that  he  killed  thirteen  and  took  seven  (the  Indians  not  having  reckoned 
two  of  the  persons  whom  they  left  unscalped).  .  .  . 

"Again: 

"  '  I  have  the  honour  to  transmit  to  Your  Excellency  a  general  letter 
containing  the  state  of  the  garrison  and  of  my  Department  to  the  1st 
inst.,  and  a  return,  at  the  foot,  of  the  war  parties  that  have  been  on 
service  this  year,  ...  by  which  it  will  appear  that  they  have  killed 
and  taken  during  the  season  already  150  persons,  including  those  last 
brought  in.   ...   ' 

"Again  he  reports,  August  30,  1781: 

"  'The  party  with  Capt.  Caldwell  and  some  of  the  Indians  with  Capt. 
Lottridge  are  returning,  having  destroyed  several  settlements  in  Ulster 
County,  and  about  100  of  the  Indians  are  gone  against  other  parts  of 
the  frontiers,  and  I  have  some  large  parties  under  good  leaders  still  on 
service  as  well  as  scouts  towards  Fort  Pitt.  .  .  . 

"Not  only  are  there  many  returns  of  this  sort,  but  also  tabulated 
statements,  giving  the  number  of  prisoners  sent  down  from  Fort  Niagara 
to  Montreal  on  given  dates,  with  their  names,  ages,  names  of  their 
captors,  and  the  places  where  they  were  taken.  There  were  many  ship- 
ments during  the  summer  of  '83,  and  the  latest  return  of  this  sort  which 
I  have  found  in  the  archives  is  dated  August  1st  of  that  year,  when 
eleven  prisoners  were  sent  from  the  fort  to  Montreal.  It  was  probably 
not  far  from  this  time  that  the  last  American  prisoner  of  the  Revolution 
was  released  from  Fort  Niagara.  But  let  the  reader  beware  of  forming 
hasty  conclusions  as  to  the  cruelty  or  brutality  of  the  British  at  Fort 


■  - 


m& 


rl 

■ 

' 

■ 

'Jh&. 

' 

- 


Niagara  under  Three  Flags  221 

nies  declared  themselves  "  free  and  independent  States," 
absolved  of  their  allegiance  to  the  British  Crown. 
But  many  months  before  this  great  epoch-making 
event,  war  had  actually  commenced  on  Lake  Cham- 
plain.  On  an  April  day,  in  the  now  memorable  year 
1775,  the  "embattled  farmers"  had  fired  at  Concord 

Niagara.  In  the  first  place,  remember  that  harshness  or  kindness  in  the 
treatment  of  the  helpless  depends  in  good  degree — and  always  has 
depended — upon  the  temperament  and  mood  of  the  individual  custodian. 
There  were  those  in  command  at  Fort  Niagara  who  appear  to  have  been 
capable  of  almost  any  iniquity.  Others  gave  frequent  and  conspicuous 
proofs  of  their  humanity.  Remember,  secondly,  that  the  prisoners 
primarily  belonged  to  the  Indians  who  captured  them.  The  Indian 
custom  of  adoption — the  taking  into  the  family  circle  of  a  prisoner  in 
place  of  a  son  or  husband  who  had  been  killed  by  the  enemy — was  an 
Iroquois  custom,  dating  back  much  further  than  their  acquaintance  with 
the  English.  Many  of  the  Americans  who  were  detained  in  this  fashion 
by  their  Indian  captors,  probably  never  were  given  over  to  the  British. 
Some,  as  we  know,  like  Mary  Jemison,  the  White  Woman  of  the  Genesee, 
adopted  the  Indian  mode  of  life  and  refused  to  leave  it.  Others  died  in 
captivity,  some  escaped.  Horatio  Jones  and  Jasper  Parrish  were  first 
prisoners,  then  utilised  as  interpreters,  but  remained  among  the  Indians. 
And  in  many  cases,  especially  of  women  and  children,  we  know  that  they 
were  got  away  from  the  Indians  by  the  British  officers  at  Fort  Niagara, 
only  after  considerable  trouble  and  expense.  In  these  cases  the  British 
were  the  real  benefactors  of  the  Americans,  and  the  kindness  in  the 
act  cannot  always  be  put  aside  on  the  mere  ground  of  military  exchange, 
prisoner  for  prisoner.  Gen.  Haldimand  is  quoted  to  the  effect  that  he 
'  does  not  intend  to  enter  into  an  exchange  of  prisoners,  but  he  will  not 
add  to  the  distresses  attending  the  present  war,  by  detaining  helpless 
women  and  children  from  their  families.'  " 

In  justice  to  Col.  Guy  Johnson's  administration  at  Fort  Niagara, 
as  well  as  to  give  one  of  the  clearest  (if  biased)  views  of  the  trials  and 
perplexities  of  those  hard  days,  we  reproduce  a  "  Review  of  Col.  Johnson's 
Transactions";  as  Mr.  Severance  notes,  this  review  shows  "the  real 
state  of  affairs  at  Fort  Niagara  towards  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary 
War  "  better  than  does  almost  any  other  document  * : 

"Montreal,  24th  March,  1782. 

"  Before  Colonel  Johnson  arrived  at  Niagara  in  1779  the  Six  Nations 

lived  in  their  original    possessions  the  nearest  of  which  was  about    100 

and  the  farthest  about  300  miles  from  that  post.     Their  warriors  were 

*  I  quote  Mr.  Severance's  copy  from  Canadian  Archives,  Series   B,  vol. 

106,  p.  122,  et  seq. 


222  The  Niagara  River 

and  Lexington,  the  shots  "heard  round  the  world,"  and 
a  few  weeks  later  the  forts  at  Crown  Point  and  Ticon- 
deroga,  then  defended  by  very  feeble  garrisons,  were 
in  the  possession  of  colonial  troops,  led  by  Ethan  Allen 
and  Seth  Warner,  the  two  "Green  Mountain  Boys" 
who  organised  this  expedition.  Canada  was  at  this 
time  in  a  very  defenceless  condition.     Burgoyne  was 

called  upon  as  the  service  required  parties,  which  in  1776  amounted  to 
about  70  men,  and  the  expenses  attending  them,  and  a  few  occasional 
meetings  ought  to  have  been  and  he  presumes  were  a  mere  Trifle  when 
compared  with  what  must  attend  their  situation  when  all  [were]  driven 
to  Niagara,  exposed  to  every  want,  to  every  temptation,  and  with  every 
claim  which  their  distinguished  sacrifices  and  the  tenor  of  Soloman 
[solemn]  Treaties  had  entitled  them  to  from  Government.  The  years 
1777  &  1778  exhibited  only  a  larger  number  occasionally  employed  and 
for  their  fidelity  and  attachment  to  Government  they  were  invaded  in 
1 779  by  a  rebel  army  reported  to  be  from  5  to  600  men  with  a  train  of 
Artillery  who  forced  them  to  retire  to  Niagara  leaving  behind  them  very 
fine  plantations  of  corn  and  vegetables,  with  their  cloathing,  arms,  silver 
works,  Wampum  Kettles  and  Implements  of  Husbandry,  the  collection 
of  ages  of  which  were  destroyed  in  a  deliberate  manner  and  march  of  the 
rebels.     Two  villages  only  escaped  that  were  out  of  their  route. 

"The  Indians  having  always  apprehended  that  their  distinguished 
loyalty  might  draw  some  such  calamity  towards  them  had  stipulated 
that  under  such  circumstances  they  effected  [expected]  to  have  their  losses 
made  up  as  well  as  a  liberal  continuation  of  favours  and  to  be  supported 
at  the  expence  of  Government  till  they  could  be  reinstated  in  their  former 
possessions.  They  were  accordingly  advised  to  form  camps  around  Niagara 
which  they  were  beginning  to  do  at  the  time  of  Colonel  Johnson's  arrival 
who  found  them  much  chagrined  and  prepared  to  reconcile  them  to  their 
disaster  which  he  foresaw  would  be  a  work  of  time  requiring  great  judg- 
ment and  address  in  effecting  which  he  was  afterwards  successful  beyond 
his  most  sanguine  expectations,  and  this  was  the  state  of  the  Indians  at 
Colonel  Johnson's  arrival.  As  to  the  state  and  regulation  of  Colonel 
Johnson's  officers  and  department  at  that  period  he  found  the  duties 
performed  by  2  or  three  persons  the  rest  little  acquainted  with  them 
and  considered  as  less  capable  of  learning  them,  and  the  whole  number 
inadequate  to  that  of  the  Indians,  and  the  then  requisite  calls  of  the 
service,  and  that  it  was  necessary  after  refusing  the  present  wants  of  the 
Indians  to  keep  their  minds  occupied  by  constant  military  employment, 
all  which  he  laid  before  the  Commander  in  Chief  who  frequently  honoured 
his  conduct  with  particular  approbation." 


Niagara  under  Three  Flags  223 

defeated  at  Saratoga,  and  his  army,  from  which  so 
much  was  expected,  made  prisoners  of  war.  This  great 
misfortune  of  the  British  cause  was  followed  by  the 
alliance  of  France  with  the  States.  French  money, 
men,  and  ships  eventually  assured  the  independence 
of  the  Republic,  whose  fortunes  were  very  low  at  times 
despite  the  victory  at  Saratoga.  England  was  not 
well  served  in  this  American  war ;  she  had  no  Washing- 
ton to  direct  her  campaign,  and  Gage,  Burgoyne,  and 
Cornwallis  were  not  equal  to  the  responsibilities  thrown 
upon  them.  Cornwallis's  defeat  at  Yorktown,  October 
19,  1 781,  was  the  death  blow  to  the  hopes  of  England 
in  North  America. 

Had  General  Sullivan's  campaign  of  1779,  as 
planned,  been  successful,  he  would  have  attacked  Furt 
Niagara,  but  disaster  overtook  him,  though  he  led 
an  expedition  against  the  Iroquois,  routed  a  force  of 
Indians  and  Tories  at  Newtown,  near  the  present 
Elmira,  and  wrought  wide  devastation  in  the  country 
of  the  Cayugas  and  Senecas. 

Yorktown  led  to  the  Treaty  of  Versailles  and  in- 
dependence, but  oddly  enough  it  was  almost  a  genera- 
tion before  a  third  flag  arose  above  the  historic  "  Castle  " 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara.  In  1784  the  United 
States  came  into  the  control  of  the  territory  extending 
from  Nova  Scotia  (which  then  included  New  Brunswick) 
to  the  head  of  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  and  to  the  Missis- 
sippi River  in  the  West,  and  in  the  North  from  Canada 
to  the  Floridas  in  the  South,  the  latter  having  again 
become  Spanish  possessions.  The  boundary  between 
Nova  Scotia  and  the  Republic  was  so  ill  defined  that 
it  took  over  fifty  years  to  fix  the  St.  Croix  and  the  High- 
lands which  were,  by  the  treaty,  to  divide  the  two 


224  The  Niagara  River 

countries.  In  the  Far  West  the  line  of  division  was  to 
be  drawn  through  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  "to  the 
most  north-western  point  thereof,  and  from  thence  on 
a  due  west  course  to  the  River  Mississippi" — a  physi- 
cal impossibility,  since  the  head  of  the  Mississippi,  as 
was  afterwards  found,  was  a  hundred  miles  or  so  to 
the  south!  In  later  times  this  geographical  error  was 
corrected,  and  the  curious  distortion  of  the  boundary 
line  that  now  appears  on  the  maps  was  necessary  at  the 
Lake  of  the  Woods  in  order  to  strike  the  forty-ninth 
parallel  of  north  latitude,  which  was  subsequently 
arranged  as  the  boundary  line  as  far  as  the  Rocky 
Mountains. 

A  strip  of  land  one  mile  wide  along  the  American 
shore  from  Lake  Ontario  to  Lake  Erie  had  been 
exempted  when  New  York  ceded  the  ownership  of 
what  is  now  the  western  part  of  this  State  to  Massa- 
chusetts, which  ownership  New  York  subsequently  re- 
acquired. Finally  the  Indians,  who,  in  spite  of  their 
former  cessions  to  England,  still  claimed  an  ownership, 
ceded  to  New  York,  for  one  thousand  dollars  and  an 
annuity  of  one  thousand  five  hundred  dollars,  their 
title  to  all  the  islands  in  the  Niagara  River.  The  State 
of  New  York  patented  the  mile-strip  to  individuals, 
commencing  in  the  first  decade  of  the  nineteenth 
century. 

In  spite  of  the  Treaty  of  Versailles  in  1783,  as 
noted,  neither  Niagara  nor  Detroit  was  surrendered 
by  the  British  until  1796.  Both  forts  were  held  as 
English  outposts  and  strengthened.  We  have  shown 
that  the  boundary-line  between  Canada  and  the  United 
States  was  improperly  conceived ;  but  it  is  a  fact  that 
during  the  Revolutionary  War  the  people  of  the  North- 


Niagara  under  Three  Flags  225 

west  had  been  warned  from  Niagara  and  Detroit  to 
take  up  arms  in  behalf  of  the  Americans.  Nothing 
aggressive,  however,  had  been  accomplished.  The 
wilderness  of  three  hundred  miles  between  Detroit 
and  the  Eastern  States  made  an  attack  upon  the  posts 
by  the  Americans  impracticable;  moreover,  most  of 
the  fighting  in  this  region  was  done  by  the  British  and 
the  Indians  and  the  people  of  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio. 
It  is  due  to  the  statesmanship  of  John  Jay  that 
the  posts  still  garrisoned  by  British  troops  in  the 
United  States,  contrary  to  the  stipulations  of  the 
Treaty  of  Paris,  were  finally  evacuated  in  1796.  Jay 
had  been  sent  by  President  Washington  to  go  to 
Great  Britain  in  1 794  as  special  envoy  to  settle  differ- 
ences growing  out  of  the  failure  of  that  country  to 
keep  the  obligations  of  the  Treaty  of  1784,  differences 
which  had  aroused  a  strong  war-spirit  all  over  the 
States.  It  was  easy  to  foresee,  as  Jay  recognised,  that 
the  outcome  of  the  situation  would  in  all  probability 
be  unpopular  with  the  people,  but  he  did  not  hesitate 
to  meet  the  responsibility  that  Washington  believed 
he  could  meet  better  than  any  other  man,  partially 
because  of  the  reputation  he  had  established  in  Eng- 
land while  negotiating  the  Treaty  of  1784.  Jay  set 
sail  on  May  12,  1794  in  the  ship  Ohio,  with  his  son 
Peter  Augustus,  and  with  John  Trumbull  as  secretary. 
On  June  8th  he  landed  at  Falmouth  and  at  once  entered 
into  relation  with  Lord  Grenville,  the  Secretary  of 
Foreign  Affairs,  who  was  commissioned  by  the  King  to 
treat  with  Mr.  Jay.  The  sincerity  and  candour  of  the 
two  negotiators  soon  led  to  a  degree  of  mutual  confi- 
dence that  both  facilitated  and  lightened  their  labours. 
A  treaty  resulted  known  on  this  side  of  the  ocean  as 


226  The  Niagara  River 

"  Jay's  Treaty,"  which  settled  the  eastern  boundary  of 
Maine,  recovered  for  illegal  captures  by  British  cruisers 
$10,000,000,  secured  the  surrender  of  the  western  forts 
still  garrisoned  by  the  British,  and  contained  an  article 
about  the  West  India  trade.  With  the  exception  of  the 
latter  article,  the  treaty  was  approved  by  the  President 
and  ratified  by  the  Senate.  But  many  were  not  satis- 
fied, and  denounced  Jay  with  tongue  and  pen,  and  even 
burned  him  in  effigy  in  Boston,  Philadelphia,  and  at  his 
own  home  in  New  York.  How  different  was  the  home- 
coming from  that  after  the  negotiation  of  the  other 
treaty,  when  the  freedom  of  the  city  was  presented 
to  him  in  a  golden  box,  and  each  one  seemed  to  vie 
with  every  other  in  extending  a  welcome!  In  a  letter 
to  a  friend,  Jay  said  at  that  time,  "Calumny  is  seldom 
durable,  it  will  in  time  yield  to  truth,"  and  he  bore  him- 
self at  that  time  as  one  having  full  confidence  that  he 
had  acted  both  wisely  and  skilfully,  and  expected  the 
people  to  realise  it  in  time.  The  British,  however, 
would  not  evacuate  Niagara  and  the  other  forts  without 
a  semblance  of  fighting  on  paper.  They  held,  amongst 
other  reasons,  that  they  were  yet  justified  in  main- 
taining a  garrison  on  American  soil  because  "it  was 
alleged  by  divers  merchants  and  others,  His  Majesty's 
subjects,"  that  they  had  sustained  various  losses  by 
the  legal  impediments  they  had  experienced  in  col- 
lecting debts  in  America  due  to  them  before  the  war. 
Mr.  Jay,  however,  with  great  diplomacy,  removed  this 
obstacle  by  the  appointment  of  Commissioners  of 
Award,  and  as  the  British  finally  were  deprived  of  all 
pretence  for  maintaining  the  posts,  it  was  agreed  that 
they  should  be  surrendered  on  or  before  the  first  of 
June,  1796.    This  was  finally  done  and  the  third  and 


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Niagara  under  Three  Flags  227 

last  flag  floated  lazily  in  the  Lake  Ontario  breezes  over 
the  historic  point.  The  settlers  and  traders  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  posts  were  permitted  to  remain  and 
to  enjoy  their  property  without  becoming  citizens  of  the 
United  States  unless  they  should  think  proper  to  do  so. 

Anthony  Wayne's  army  now  took  full  possession  of 
the  Niagara  region.  With  the  exception  of  a  small 
strip  of  land  on  the  river  and  lake,  all  the  present 
State  of  Michigan  was  occupied  by  Indians — Pot- 
tawattomies,  Miamis,  Wyandots,  Chippewas,  Winne- 
bagoes,  and  Ottawas.  The  first  American  commander 
of  the  post  was  Colonel  John  Francis  Hamtramck, 
who  died  in  1803.  At  that  period  Detroit  was  head- 
quarters of  the  Western  Army,  but  the  whole  garrison 
only  consisted  of  three  hundred  men. 

Niagara-on-the-Lake  may  be  called  the  Plymouth 
Rock  of  upper  Canada.  It  was  once  its  proud  capi- 
tal. Variously  known  in  the  past  as  Loyal  Village, 
Butlersbury,  Nassau,  and  Newark,  it  had  a  daily  paper 
as  early  as  1792,  and  was  a  military  post  of  distinction 
at  the  same  period,  its  real  beginnings,  however,  being 
contemporaneous  with  the  War  of  Independence. 
Here,  within  two  short  hours'  ride  of  the  most  popu- 
lous and  busy  city  of  western  New  York,  typical  of 
the  material  forces  that  have  moulded  the  nineteenth 
and  twentieth  centuries,  we  come  upon  a  spot  of 
intensest  quiet,  in  the  shadow  of  whose  ivy-mantled 
church  tower  sleep  trusted  servants  of  the  Georges, 
Loyalists  and  their  Indian  allies. 

The  place  has  been  overtaken  by  none  of  that 
unpicturesque  commercial  prosperity  which  further 
up  the  frontier  threatens  to  destroy  all  the  natural 
beauties  of  the  river-banks. 


228  The  Niagara  River 

The  Welland  Canal  and  the  Grand  Trunk  and  Great 
Western  Railway  systems  diverted  the  great  part  of  the 
carrying  trade,  and  with  it  that  growth  and  activity 
which  have  signalised  the  neighbouring  cities  of 
Canada.  "  Refuse  the  Welland  Canal  entrance  to  your 
town,"  said  the  Commissioners,  "  and  the  grass  will 
grow  in  your  streets."  Here  General  Simcoe  opened 
the  first  Upper  Canadian  Legislature;  and  later,  from 
here  the  noble  Brock  planned  the  defence  of  Upper 
Canada.  While  the  cities  of  western  New  York, 
which  have  now  far  eclipsed  it,  were  rude  log  settle- 
ments, at  "Newark"  some  little  attempt  was  made 
at  decorum  and  society. 

Here  landed  in  i783~'84  ten  thousand  United 
Empire  Loyalists,  who,  to  keep  inviolate  their  oaths 
of  allegiance  to  the  King,  quitted  their  freeholds  and 
positions  of  trust  and  honour  in  the  States  to  begin 
life  anew  in  the  unbroken  wilds  of  Upper  Canada. 
History  has  made  us  somewhat  familiar  with  the  set- 
tlement of  Nova  Scotia  and  New  Brunswick  by  the 
expatriated  Loyalists.  Little  has  been  written  of  the 
sufferings  and  privations  endured  by  the  ' '  makers ' '  of 
Upper  Canada.  Students  and  specialists  who  have 
investigated  the  story  of  a  flight  equalled  only  by  that 
of  the  Huguenots  after  the  revocation  of  the  Edict 
of  Nantes  have  been  led  to  admire  the  spirit  of  unself- 
ish patriotism  which  led  these  one  hundred  thousand 
fugitives  to  self -exile.  While  the  Pilgrims  came  to 
America  leisurely,  bringing  their  household  goods  and 
their  charters  with  them,  the  United  Empire  Loyal- 
ists, it  has  well  been  said ,  ' '  bleeding  with  the  wounds  of 
seven  years  of  war,  left  ungathered  the  crops  of  their 
rich  farms  on  the  Mohawk  and  in  New  Jersey,  and, 


Niagara  under  Three  Flags  229 

stripped  of  every  earthly  possession,  braved  the  terrors 
of  the  unbroken  wilderness  from  the  Mohawk  to 
Lake  Ontario."  Inhabited  to-day  by  the  descendants 
of  these  pioneers,  the  old-fashioned  loyalty  and  con- 
servatism of  the  Niagara  district  is  the  more  conspicu- 
ous by  contrasting  it  with  neighbouring  republicanism 
over  the  river. 

Here,  over  a  century  ago,  near  Fort  George,  stood 
the  first  Parliament  House  of  Upper  Canada.  Here, 
seventy  years  before  President  Lincoln's  Emancipation 
Proclamation,  the  first  United  Empire  Loyalist  Par- 
liament, like  the  embattled  farmers  at  Concord,  "  fired 
a  shot  heard  round  the  world."  For  one  of  the  first 
measures  of  the  exiled  patricians  was  to  pass  an  act 
forbidding  slavery.  Few  readers  know  that  at  Newark, 
now  Niagara,  was  enacted  that  law  by  which  Canada 
became  not  only  the  first  country  in  the  world  to 
abolish  slavery,  but,  as  such,  a  safe  refuge  for  the 
fugitive  slaves  from  the  Southern  States. 

General  Simcoe,  the  first  governor,  was  born  in 
1752  and  died  in  1806.  A  landed  gentleman  of  Eng- 
land and  likewise  a  member  of  the  British  House  of 
Commons  he  voluntarily  relinquished  all  the  luxuries 
of  his  beautiful  English  home  and  estates  to  bury 
himself  in  the  wilderness  of  Canada  and  the  Niagara 
region.  As  governor-general  he  exemplified  the  ex- 
tremest  simplicity.  His  guard  consisted  of  four 
soldiers  who  came  from  Fort  George,  close  by,  to  New- 
ark, every  morning  and  returned  thither  in  the  even- 
ing. Mrs.  Simcoe  not  only  performed  the  duties  of 
wife  and  mother,  but  also  acted  as  her  husband's 
secretary.  The  name  of  Simcoe  is  indelibly  entered 
in  the   history   of  the   development   of    the    Niagara, 


230  The  Niagara  River 

and  it  is  doubly  appropriate  that  her  interesting  draw- 
ings should  illustrate  a  volume  dealing  with  this  region 
she  loved. 

Here  Cooper  is  said  to  have  written  his  admirable 
novels  of  border  and  Indian  life,  novels  which  have 
been  devoured  by  me  and  millions  of  readers ;  it  is  fair 
to  predict  that  the  stories  will  be  read  for  another  cen- 
tury to  come.1  Many  other  interesting  characters 
have  at  different  periods  made  Fort  George  their  abode. 
In  1780,  a  handsome  house  within  its  enclosure  was 
occupied  by  General  Guy  Johnson. 

1  Here,  the  story  runs,  the  brother  of  Sir  Walter  Scott  concocted  the 
plots  and  outlines  of  Sir  Walter's  famous  novels  and  sent  them  on  to  Eng- 
land to  be  polished  up  for  publication — a  story  worthy  of  a  Hennepin. 


Chapter  X 

The  Hero  of  Upper  Canada 

GENERAL  ISAAC  BROCK,  the  Hero  of  Upper 
Canada,  was  the  kind  of  man  men  delight 
to  honour — honest,  capable,  ambitious,  faith- 
ful, kind.  Nothing  less  than  a  tremendous 
gorge,  such  as  separates  Queenston  from  Lewiston 
Heights,  could  keep  the  people  of  one  nation  from 
knowing  and  loving  this  hero  of  another;  since  Brock's 
day  this  gorge  has  been  spanned  by  beautiful  bridges, 
and  it  is  full  time  now,  as  the  centennial  of  the  second 
war  with  England  approaches,  that  the  appreciation 
of  the  characters  of  the  worthy,  patriotic  heroes  of  that 
olden  day  o'erleap  the  chasm  of  bitter  rivalry  and  hos- 
tility and  become  common  and  genuine  to  the  north- 
ward and  the  southward  of  the  Niagara. 

Isaac  Brock  was  the  eighth  son  of  John  Brock,  Esq., 
born  on  the  sixth  day  of  October,  1769,  in  the  parish  of 
St.  Peter-Port,  Guernsey — the  famous  birth-year  of 
Wellington  and  Napoleon.  Tall,  robust,  and  mentally 
conspicuous  as  a  lad,  Isaac  followed  his  elder  brother 
into  the  British  Army,  purchasing  the  ensigncy  in  the 
8th,  or  King's  Regiment,  in  1785.  His  promotion 
was  the  result  of  merit  in  addition  to  possessing  the 
means  to  purchase  higher  office;  in  1790  we  find  him  a 
lieutenant  in  the  49th  Regiment,  advancing  to  his  ma- 
jority in   1795  and    two  years  later  becoming  senior 

231 


232  The  Niagara  River 

lieutenant-colonel.  Supplanting  now  an  officer  ac- 
cused of  peculation  who  had  brought  the  whole  regi- 
ment into  public  notice,  Brock  exerted  an  influence  that 
seemed  to  transform  the  regiment,  making  it  "  from 
one  of  the  worst,"  said  the  Duke  of  York  himself,  "  one 
of  the  best  regiments  in  the  service." 

The  opportunity  of  active  service  soon  came,  as  the 
49th  was  thrown  into  Holland,  Brock  being  wounded 
at  Egmont-op-Zee,  or  Bergen.  His  simple  statement 
concerning  being  struck  in  the  breast  by  a  spent  bullet 
is  interesting:  "  I  got  knocked  down  soon  after  the 
enemy  began  to  retreat,"  he  remarks,  "but  never 
quitted  the  field,  and  returned  to  my  duty  in  less  than 
half  an  hour."  1  Here  Brock  fought  under  Sir  John 
Moore  and  Sir  Ralph  Abercrombie;  in  1801  he  was  sec- 
ond in  command  of  the  land  forces  at  Copenhagen  and 
saw  Lord  Nelson  on  the  Elephant  write  his  famous  letter 
to  the  Crown  Prince  of  Denmark.  During  the  next 
year  the  49th  was  sent  to  Canada  and  was  quartered 
at  Fort  George  near  Newark,  the  present  Niagara-on- 
the-Lake.  The  character  of  Brock's  management  of 
the  troops  under  him  is  well  illustrated  in  the  case  of 
a  strange  mutiny  that  came  near  to  breaking  out  at 
this  time  at  Fort  George  due  to  the  useless  annoyance, 
or  alleged  actual  severity,  which  so  exasperated  the 
men  that  an  almost  inconceivable  plot  to  kill  the 
officers  was  discovered.  After  the  crime  the  soldiers 
were  to  cross  the  river  into  the  United  States  and 
escape.     One  of  the  confederates  was  sent  by  the  com- 

1  The  Life  and  Correspondence  of  Major-General  Sir  Isaac  Brock,  K.B., 
by  Ferdinand  Brock  Tupper,  p.  16.  This  most  interesting  volume  has 
furnished  very  much  of  the  material  for  this  chapter.  D.  B.  Read's  Life 
and  Times  of  General  Brock  is  an  excellent  book  for  popular  use  and  will 
be  found  quoted  herein. 


Major-General  Brock. 


The  Hero  of  Upper  Canada  233 

manding  officer  to  Brock  at  York  with  a  letter  describ- 
ing the  horrifying  discovery.  The  incensed  commander 
compelled  the  soldier  at  the  point  of  a  musket  to  dis- 
close the  chief  conspirators.  Hastening  to  Fort  George 
the  ringleaders  were  apprehended  at  the  dinner  table 
and  hurried  off  to  Quebec,  where  they  were  summarily 
shot.  As  a  result  Brock  himself  was  ordered  to  make 
Fort  George  his  headquarters,  whereupon  all  trouble 
seems  to  have  ceased. 

In  1805  Brock  received  his  colonelcy  and  with  it 
leave  of  absence.  While  at  home  he  made  a  report  to 
the  commander-in-chief  which  throws  an  interesting 
light  on  affairs  at  that  period,  favouring  the  formation 
of  a  veteran  battalion  for  service  in  Upper  Canada. 
He  wrote : 

The  artifices  employed  to  wean  the  soldier  from  his  duty,  con- 
spire to  render  almost  ineffectual  every  effort  of  the  officers  to 
maintain  the  usual  degree  of  order  and  discipline.  The  lures  to 
desertion  continually  thrown  out  by  the  Americans,  and  the  facil- 
ity with  which  it  can  be  accomplished,  exacting  a  more  than  ordi- 
nary precaution  on  the  part  of  the  officers,  insensibly  produces 
mistrust  between  them  and  the  men,  highly  prejudicial  to  the 
service. 

Experience  has  taught  me  that  no  regular  regiment,  however 
high  its  claim  to  discipline,  can  occupy  the  frontier  posts  of  Lower 
and  Upper  Canada  without  suffering  materially  in  its  numbers. 
It  might  have  been  otherwise  some  years  ago;  but  now  that  the 
country,  particularly  the  opposite  shore,  is  chiefly  inhabited  by 
the  vilest  characters,  who  have  an  interest  in  debauching  the 
soldier  from  his  duty ;  since  roads  are  opened  into  the  interior  of 
the  States,  which  facilitate  desertion,  it  is  impossible  to  avoid 
the  contagion.  A  total  change  must  be  effected  in  the  minds 
and  views  of  those  who  may  hereafter  be  sent  on  this  duty,  before 
the  evil  can  be  surmounted.1 

1  One  cause  of  desertion  seems  to  have  been  the  ubiquitous  American 
girl.     In  a  later  letter  Brock  wrote: 


234  The  Niagara  River 

Such  was  the  warlike  tenor  of  despatches  now  at 
hand  from  Canada  that  Brock,  eager  to  be  at  the  post 
of  duty  at  a  critical  time,  hastened  from  London  in 
June,  1806,  cutting  short  his  leave  of  absence.  Through- 
out that  year  and  its  successor  he  was  actively  engaged 
in  studying  his  province  with  regard  to  military  de- 
mands that  might  suddenly  be  made  upon  it ;  it  is  note- 
worthy that  the  commander  feared  that  in  case  of  an 
outbreak  between  England  and  America  a  considerable 
part  of  the  inhabitants  of  Upper  Canada  (Loyalists) 
would  prove  friendly  to  the  young  Republic.  Discuss- 
ing a  new  militia  law  he  wrote  as  follows  to  the  Council: 

In  thus  complying  with  the  dictates  of  his  duty,  Colonel  Brock 
was  not  prepared  to  hear  that  the  population  of  the  province, 
instead  of  affording  him  ready  and  effectual  support,  might 
probably  add  to  the  number  of  his  enemies;  and  he  feels  much 
disappointment  in  being  informed  by  the  first  authority,  that 
the  only  law  in  any  degree  calculated  to  answer  the  end  proposed 
was  likely,  if  attempted  to  be  enforced,  to  meet  with  such  general 
opposition  as  to  require  the  aid  of  the  military  to  give  it  even  a 
momentary  impulse. 

If  such  were  the  apprehensions  of  the  commanding 
officer  in  Canada  little  wonder  General  Hull,  in  later 
days,  counted  on  the  co-operation  of  many  of  the  in- 
habitants of  the  trans-Niagara  country.  In  Septem- 
ber, 1807,  Brock,  who  was  acting-governor  in  Canada 
pending  the  arrival  of  Sir  James  Craig,  was  fortifying 
Quebec  in  anticipation  of  an  immediate  outbreak  of 
the  impending  war.     In  this  connection  a  little  incident 

"Not  a  desertion  has  been  attempted  by  any  of  the  49th  for  the  last 
ten  months,  with  the  exception,  indeed,  of  Hogan.  He  served  Glegg, 
who  took  him  with  him  to  the  Falls  of  Niagara,  where  a  fair  damsel  per- 
suaded him  to  this  act  of  madness,  for  the  fellow  cannot  possibly  gain 
his  bread  by  labour,  as  he  has  half  killed  himself  with  excessive  drinking; 
and  we  know  he  cannot  live  upon  love  alone." 


The  Hero  of  Upper  Canada  235 

displays  his  character.  He  had  caused  to  be  erected 
at  Quebec  a  very  powerful  battery,  and  of  it  he  wrote 
his  brothers: 

I  erected  ...  a  famous  battery,  which  the  public  voice 
named  after  me ;  but  Sir  James,  thinking  very  properly  that  any- 
thing so  very  pre-eminent  should  be  distinguished  by  the  most 
exalted  appellation,  has  called  it  the  King's  Battery,  the  greatest 
compliment,  I  conceive,  that  he  could  pay  to  my  judgment. 

The  true  modesty  of  the  really  great  man  shines  out  in 
these  charming  words. 

As  the  war  cloud  seemed  to  dissipate  toward  the 
close  of  1808,  General  Brock  seems  to  have  set  his 
eyes  toward  Europe  in  the  hope  of  opportunity  of 
active  service;  on  November  19th  he  writes  quite 
despondently : 

My  object  is  to  get  home  as  soon  as  I  can  obtain  permission ; 
but  unless  our  affairs  with  America  be  amicably  adjusted,  of 
which  I  see  no  probability,  I  scarcely  can  expect  to  be  permitted 
to  move.  I  rejoice  Savery  [Brock]  has  begun  to  exert  himself 
to  get  me  appointed  to  a  more  active  situation.  I  must  see  ser- 
vice, or  I  may  as  well,  and  indeed  much  better,  quit  the  army  at 
once,  for  no  one  advantage  can  I  reasonably  look  to  hereafter  if 
I  remain  buried  in  this  inactive,  remote  corner,  without  the  least 
mention  being  made  of  me. 

It  is  exceedingly  noticeable  that  Brock  now  seems 
to  pin  all  his  hope  to  being  recalled  in  order  that  he 
might  win  his  laurels  in  the  tremendously  spectacular 
campaigns  against  Napoleon  in  Spain.  From  his  letters 
we  learn  that  the  French-Canadians  looked  for  the  Cor- 
sican's  ultimate  triumph  and  his  final  possession  of 
Canada  itself,  and  adds  that  under  like  circumstances 
Englishmen  would  be  even  more  restless  under  French 
rule  than  the  French-Canadians  were  under  English; 


236  The  Niagara  River 

''Every  victory  which  Napoleon  has  gained,"  he  ob- 
serves, "  for  the  last  nine  years  has  made  the  disposition 
here  to  resist  more  manifest." 

In  the  middle  of  July  Brock  writes  his  sister-in-law, 
Mrs.  William  Brock,  that  the  die  is  cast  and  that  he  is 
ordered  to  Upper  Canada.  If  it  is  character,  rather 
than  mere  performance  that,  in  the  last  analysis,  gives 
every  man  his  historic  position  in  the  annals  of  the 
world,  the  truth  is  nowhere  better  shown  than  here  in 
the  case  of  this  splendid  Canadian  hero.  Could  his 
Governor  have  spared  him  Brock  would  have,  ere  this, 
been  at  home  or  en  route  to  Spain  and  fame ;  but  the 
conditions  demanded  a  strong,  diplomatic  officer  at 
Fort  George,  and  there  was  nothing  for  it  but  that  Brock 
must  go;  and  there  followed  war — and  bloody  Queens- 
ton  Heights.  "Since  I  cannot  get  to  Europe,"  are 
his  gloomy  words,  "  I  care  little  where  I  am  placed." 

By  September  13th  he  is  writing  his  brothers  from 
Fort  George,  but  still  hinting  of  his  hopes  to  get  leave 
to  return  to  England  eventually.  What  an  out-of-the- 
way  place  for  fame  to  seek  and  find  a  man — a  man  re- 
pining that  he  cannot  go  in  search  of  her!  Yet  he 
writes:  "  I  should  stand  evidently  in  my  own  light  if  I 
did  not  court  fortune  elsewhere."  The  attitude  of  Sir 
James  Craig  in  the  matter  of  his  transfer  to  the  Euro- 
pean service  was  candidly  stated  by  a  letter  from 
Colonel  Baynes  as  follows: 

In  reply  to  an  observation  of  mine,  that  you  regretted  the 
inactive  prospect  before  you,  and  looked  with  envy  on  those  em- 
ployed in  Spain  and  Portugal,  he  said:  "I  make  no  doubt  of  it, 
but  I  can  in  no  shape  aid  his  plans  in  that  respect ;  I  would  not, 
however,  be  the  means  of  preventing  them,  and  although  from 
his  local  knowledge  I  should  regret  losing  him  in  this  country, 


The  Hero  of  Upper  Canada  237 

yet  I  would  not  oppose  it  if  he  could  obtain  an  appointment  to 
the  staff  on  service ;  but  in  that  case  I  would  ask  for  another  gen- 
eral officer  being  sent  in  his  place  immediately  to  Upper  Canada." 
I  tell  you  this,  my  dear  general,  without  reserve,  and  give  you, 
as  far  as  I  can  recollect,  Sir  James's  words.  If  he  liked  you  less, 
he  might,  perhaps,  be  more  readily  induced  to  let  you  go ;  as  mat- 
ters stand,  I  do  not  think  he  will,  although  I  am  convinced  that 
he  will  feel  very  sincere  regret  in  refusing  you  on  a  subject  upon 
which  you  appear  to  be  so  anxious. 

In  his  correspondence  we  now  and  then  get  a  glimpse 
of  the  General's  tastes  and  inclinations;  that  he  was 
not  a  frugal  entertainer  we  have  considerable  proof,1 
likewise  evidence  of  his  temperate  tastes.  In  his  lonely 
life  by  the  Niagara  he  had  recourse  to  such  books  as 
were  to  be  found. 

But  books  are  scarce  [he  writes],  and  I  hate  borrowing.  I 
like  to  read  a  book  quickly,  and  afterwards  revert  to  such  pas- 
sages as  have  made  the  deepest  impression,  and  which  appear 
to  me  most  important  to  remember — a  practice  I  cannot  con- 
veniently pursue  unless  the  book  be  mine.  Should  you  find  that 
I  am  likely  to  remain  here,  I  wish  you  to  send  me  some  choice 
authors  in  history,  particularly  ancient,  with  maps,  and  the  best 
translations  of  ancient  works.  I  read  in  my  youth  Pope's  Trans- 
lation of  Homer,  but  till  lately  never  discovered  its  exquisite 
beauties.  As  I  grow  old,  I  acquire  a  taste  for  study.  I  firmly 
believe  that  the  same  propensity  was  always  inherent  in  me,  but, 
strange  to  tell,  although  many  were  paid  extravagantly,  I  never 
had  the  advantage  of  a  master  to  guide  and  encourage  me.  But 
it  is  now  too  late  to  repine.  I  rejoice  that  my  nephews  ars  more 
fortunate. 

1  A  letter  from  Colonel  Kempt  runs :  "  I  have  just  received  a  long  letter 
.  .  .  giving  me  an  account  of  a  splendid  ball  given  by  you  to  the  beau 
monde  of  Niagara  and  its  vicinity,  and  the  manner  in  which  she  speaks  of 
your  liberality  and  hospitality  reminds  me  of  the  many  pleasant  hours  I 
have  passed  under  your  roof.  We  have  no  such  parties  now,  and  the  indis- 
position of  Sir  James  having  prevented  the  usual  public  days  at  the  castle, 
nothing  more  stupid  than  Quebec  now  is  can  be  imagined." 


238  The  Niagara  River 

Colonel  Vesey,  writing  to  Brock,  states  that  he  re- 
grets not  having  a  daughter  of  marriageable  age.  "  You 
should  be  married,"  runs  the  letter,  "particularly  as 
fate  seems  to  detain  you  so  long  in  Canada — but  pray 
do  not  marry  there."  In  another  letter,  dated  Ports- 
mouth, June  10,  1 81 1,  the  same  correspondent  refers  to 
Brock's  appointment  as  Major-General.  Oddly  enough 
General  Vesey  says,  referring  to  his  friend's  probable 
future:  "It  may  perhaps  be  your  fate  to  go  to  the 
Mediterranean,  but  the  Peninsula  is  the  most  direct 
road  to  the  honour  of  the  Bath,  and  as  you  are  an  am- 
bitious man,  that  is  the  station  you  should  prefer.  ..." 
Only  sixteen  months  from  the  day  this  letter  was  writ- 
ten Brock  was  gazetted  Knight  of  the  Bath — the  lonely, 
patient,  splendid  man  winning  the  great  honour  in  the 
very  land  he  was  longing  so  sincerely  to  leave.  On 
October  1 7th  a  communication  from  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Torrens  gives  General  Brock  permission  to  return  to 
England,  but  it  was  too  late;  both  honour  and  neces- 
sity demanded  his  presence  in  Canada  as  the  exciting 
days  of  181 2  drew  on  apace. 

At  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  in  this  year  the  United 
States  embraced  an  immense  territory,  extending  from 
the  St.  Lawrence  to  Mexico,  excepting  Florida — which 
remained  in  the  possession  of  Spain  until  181 9 — and 
from  the  Atlantic  indefinitely  westward  to  the  Spanish 
possessions  on  the  Pacific  coast,  afterwards  acquired 
by  the  United  States.  The  total  population  of  the 
United  States  was  upwards  of  eight  million  souls,  of 
whom  a  million  and  a  half  were  negro  slaves  in  the 
South.  Large  wastes  of  wild  land  lay  between  the 
Canadian  settlements  and  the  thickly  populated  sec- 
tions of  New  England,  New  York,  and  Ohio.     It  was 


< 


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t,« 

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- 

S 

5  !  ,   ^r 

-. 

v.- 


be 

G 


03 


O 


The  Hero  of  Upper  Canada  239 

only  with  great  difficulty  and  expense  that  men, 
munitions  of  war,  and  provisions  could  be  brought 
to  the  frontier  during  the  contest. 

The  principal  causes  of  the  war  are  quite  intelligible 
to  the  historical  student.  Great  Britain  was  engaged 
in  a  great  conflict  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  not  only  for  her  own  national  security  but 
also  for  the  integrity  of  Europe,  then  threatened  by  the 
insatiable  ambition  of  Bonaparte.  It  was  on  the  sea 
that  her  strength  mainly  lay.  To  ensure  her  maritime 
supremacy  England  reserved  the  right  of  searching 
neutral,  especially  American,  vessels.  This  so-called 
right  meant  that  wherever  an  English  warship  met 
American  merchantmen  or  war- vessels,  the  latter  were 
required  to  stop,  order' their  men  on  deck,  and  permit 
as  many  sailors  to  be  seized  and  forced  into  the  English 
service  as  were  unable  to  prove  their  nationality.  It 
was  maintained  that  only  deserters  from  the  English 
navy  were  wanted ;  but  in  the  period  from  1 796  to  1802, 
nearly  two  thousand  American  seamen  were  pressed 
into  the  English  naval  service  on  the  plea  that  they 
were  deserters.  Likewise  England  became  jealous  of 
American  trade.  French,  Spanish,  and  even  English 
traders  raised  the  American  flag  in  order  to  get  the  ad- 
vantages of  neutrals.  Thus  it  appeared  that  English 
commerce  would  fall  into  the  hands  of  her  rivals.  It 
cannot  be  denied  that  illicit  trade  and  outrages  were 
really  committed  and  brought  back  to  American  doors. 
The  Lion  roared.  English  vessels  were  stationed  just 
outside  the  ports  of  more  or  less  importance  to  the 
United  States.  British  cruisers  virtually  blocked  the 
Atlantic  coast  from  Maine  to  Georgia.  Then  happened 
the  Chesapeake  affair.     On  June  27,  1803,  the  British 


240  The  Niagara  River 

war-vessel  Leopard  signalled  the  Chesapeake  to  stop 
as  she  was  leaving  Norfolk  Harbour.  An  officer  was 
sent  on  board,  but  Commodore  Barron  refused  to  mus- 
ter his  men.  The  Leopard  thereupon  opened  fire,  took 
the  Chesapeake  by  surprise,  three  men  being  killed  and 
eighteen  wounded.  One  Englishman  was  found  when 
the  search  was  completed ;  nevertheless,  three  American 
sailors  (one  being  a  negro)  wrere  taken  away.  This 
affair  excited  the  American  people  almost  beyond  prece- 
dent. Indignation  meetings  were  held  all  over.  War 
soon  became  the  cry.  President  Jefferson  sent  an  agent 
to  England  to  demand  reparation  for  the  attack  on 
the  Chesapeake,  but  England  paid  no  attention  to  the 
President's  representations. 

The  Embargo  Act  of  President  Jefferson  and  similar 
measures  solved  none  of  the  difficulties  they  were  in- 
tended to  solve.  The  South  suffered  much  hardship, 
tobacco  and  wheat  shrinking  to  one-half  their  former 
value. 

Then  came  the  Little  Belt  affair,  when,  in  May, 
1811,  the  United  States  frigate  President  encountered 
the  British  sloop  Little  Belt,  and,  after  a  hot  chase  of 
several  hours  practically  annihilated  her.  Never  was 
news  more  welcome  to  American  ears,  and  the  Chesa- 
peake affair  had  been  revenged.  But  the  incident 
did  not  help  to  improve  the  situation.  Lastly  it  was 
generally  believed  that  England  instigated  the  Indian 
attacks  which  led  to  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe,  where 
the  Americans,  under  General  William  Henry  Harri- 
son, gained  a  complete  victory,  to  which  our  readers' 
attention  will  be  directed  later. 

All  these  causes  wrould,  perhaps,  have  been  ineffec- 
tive but  for  the  revolution  in  the  following  year  which 


The  Hero  of  Upper  Canada  241 

took  place  in  the  American  Republican  party — the  con- 
trolling party  since  1801.  Henry  Clay  of  Kentucky, 
and  John  S.  Calhoun  of  South  Carolina,  advocated  war; 
others  followed  and  President  Madison  joined  them. 
They  hoped  to  compel  Europe  to  respect  the  American 
flag;  they  had  confidence  in  the  young  Republic;  they 
dreamed,  perhaps,  of  an  alliance  with  France,  of  an 
annexation  of  Canada.  After  long  and  stormy  debates 
war  was  declared  June  1 8th,  the  invasion  of  Canada  had 
already  begun ! 

The  War  of  181 2  officially  commenced  on  June  18th. 
Great  Britain,  indeed,  had  extended  a  reconciliatory 
hand  but  it  was  too  late.  The  army  of  the  United 
States  numbered  at  that  time  6744  regulars.  Congress 
had  authorised  its  increase  to  25,000,  and  provided, 
at  least  by  law,  for  a  second  volunteer  army  of  50,000 
men.  The  militia  of  several  States  was  likewise  called 
on  to  co-operate  with  the  regulars  and  the  volunteers. 
But  the  result  was  very  unsatisfactory.  The  regular 
army  during  the  war  never  reached  10,000;  the  volun- 
teers appeared  only  in  small  numbers,  and  the  militia 
offered  to  serve  only  for  short  terms  and  preferably 
in  their  own  States.  The  Treasury,  with  its  "  sinews  of 
war"  was  in  a  precarious  condition.  The  Union  had 
to  resort  to  loans  to  which  the  capitalists  did  not  re- 
spond with  alacrity.  On  the  other  hand  the  British 
troops  in  Canada  numbered  barely  seven  thousand  men ; 
their  line  of  defence  was  one  thousand  miles  long. 
England  was  contending  in  Europe  with  her  great 
enemy,  Napoleon.  The  English  Navy  was,  however, 
the  undisputed  mistress  of  all  the  seas;  the  British 
North  Atlantic  Squadron  counted  three  battleships, 
twenty  cruisers,  and  fifty  smaller  ships. 

16 


242  The  Niagara  River 

The  mind  of  the  man  who  had  been  unwittingly 
awaiting  the  impossible  in  the  Upper  Province  for  so 
many  gloomy  months  is  well  displayed  now  in  a  letter 
written  to  headquarters  at  the  first  intimation  of  the 
declaration  of  war  which  reached  him  through  round- 
about sources: 

Fort  George,  July  3,  181 2. 

I  have  been  anxiously  expecting  for  some  days  to  receive  the 
honour  of  your  excellency's  commands  in  regard  to  the  measures 
the  most  proper  to  be  pursued  on  the  present  emergency. 

The  accounts  received,  first  through  a  mercantile  channel, 
and  soon  after  repeated  from  various  quarters,  of  war  having 
been  declared  by  the  United  States  against  Great  Britain,  would 
have  justified,  in  my  opinion,  offensive  operations.  But  the 
reflection  that  at  Detroit  and  Michilimakinack  the  weak  state  of 
the  garrisons  would  prevent  the  commanders  from  accomplishing 
any  essential  service,  connected  in  any  degree  with  their  future 
security,  and  that  my  means  of  annoyance  on  this  communication 
were  limited  to  the  reduction  of  Fort  Niagara,  which  could  easily 
be  battered  at  any  future  period,  I  relinquished  my  original  inten- 
tion, and  attended  only  to  defensive  measures.  My  first  object 
has  been  the  calling  out  of  the  flank  companies  of  militia,  which 
has  produced  a  force  on  this  line  of  about  eight  hundred  men. 
They  turned  out  very  cheerfully,  but  already  show  a  spirit  of 
impatience.  The  king's  stores  are  now  at  so  low  an  ebb,  that 
they  scarcely  furnish  any  article  of  use  or  comfort.  Blankets, 
hammocks,  and  kettles,  are  all  to  be  purchased;  and  the  troops, 
when  watching  the  banks  of  the  river,  stand  in  the  utmost  need 
of  tents.  Mr.  Couche  has  adopted  the  most  efficacious  means 
to  pay  the  militia  in  paper  currency.  I  cannot  positively  state 
the  number  of  militia  that  will  be  embodied,  but  they  cannot 
exceed  throughout  the  province  four  thousand  men. 

The  Americans  are  very  active  on  the  opposite  side,  in  the  erec- 
tion of  redoubts;  we  are  not  idle  on  our  part,  but  unfortunately 
having  supplied  Amherstburg  with  the  guns  which  that  post  re- 
quired from  Fort  George,  depending  upon  getting  others  from 
Kingston  to  supply  their  place,  we  find  ourselves  at  this  moment 


The  Hero  of  Upper  Canada  243 

rather  short  of  that  essential  arm.  I  have,  however,  every  reason 
to  think  that  they  are  embarked  on  board  the  Earl  Moira,  which 
vessel,  according  to  Major  M'Pherson's  report,  was  to  have  sailed 
on  the  28th  ultimo.  The  Americans  have,  I  believe,  about  1200 
regulars  and  militia  between  Fort  Niagara  and  Black  Rock,  and 
I  consider  myself  at  this  moment  perfectly  safe  against  any 
attempt  they  can  make.  About  one  hundred  Indians  from  the 
Grand  River  have  attended  to  my  summons;  the  remainder 
promise  to  come  also,  but  I  have  too  much  reason  to  conclude 
that  the  Americans  have  been  too  successful  in  their  endeavours 
to  sow  dissension  and  disaffection  among  them.  It  is  a  great 
object  to  get  this  fickle  race  interspersed  among  the  troops.  I 
should  be  unwilling,  in  the  event  of  a  retreat,  to  have  three  or 
four  hundred  of  them  hanging  on  my  flank.  I  shall  probably 
have  to  sacrifice  some  money  to  gain  them  over,  and  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  few  officers  with  salaries  will  be  absolutely  necessary. 

The  Americans  make  a  daily  parade  of  their  force,  and  easily 
impose  on  the  people  on  this  side  in  regard  to  their  numbers.  I 
do  not  think  they  exceed  1200,  but  they  are  represented  as 
infinitely  more  numerous. 

For  the  last  fortnight  every  precaution  has  been  taken  to 
guard  against  the  least  communication,  and  to  this  day  we  are  ig- 
norant whether  the  President  has  sanctioned  the  war  resolutions 
of  the  two  houses  of  Congress;  that  is,  whether  war  be  actually 
declared. 

I  have  not  been  honoured  with  a  line  from  Mr.  Foster,1  nor 
with  all  my  endeavours  have  I  been  able  to  retain  information  of 
any  consequence.  The  Prince  Regent  made  her  first  voyage  this 
morning,  and  I  purpose  sending  her  to  Kingston  this  evening, 
to  bring  such  articles  as  are  absolutely  necessary,  which  we  know 
have  arrived  from  Quebec.  I  trust  she  will  out-sail  the  Oneida 
brig. 

The  arrival  of  General  Hull  at  Detroit  and  his  "in- 
vasion" of  Canada  followed  hard  on  the  declaration 
of  war;  as  a  preliminary  step  previous  to  invasion  he 
issued  the  Proclamation  for  which  he  was  afterward 

1  British  Ambassador  to  the  United  States. 


244  The  Niagara  River 

so  roundly  scored.  The  proclamation  was  really  an 
invitation  to  all  disaffected  persons  in  the  Upper 
Provinces  to  join  Hull's  army.  That  it  had  no  more 
success  than  it  did,  was  due,  it  may  be  believed,  to  the 
personal  magnetism  of  the  able  man  in  control  of  affairs 
— to  the  trust  that  the  people  had  as  a  whole  in  General 
Brock.  To  counteract  Hull's  proclamation  Brock 
replied  in  one  of  his  own,  and  it  contains  several  state- 
ments of  interest  as  displaying  the  character  of  its 
author: 

The  unprovoked  declaration  of  war  by  the  United  States  of 
America  against  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ire- 
land, and  its  dependencies,  has  been  followed  by  the  actual  inva- 
sion of  this  province,  in  a  remote  frontier  of  the  western  district, 
by  a  detachment  of  the  armed  force  of  the  United  States. 

The  officer  commanding  that  detachment  has  thought  proper 
to  invite  his  majesty's  subjects,  not  merely  to  a  quiet  and  unre- 
sisting submission,  but  insults  them  with  a  call  to  seek  voluntarily 
the  protection  of  his  government. 

Without  condescending  to  repeat  the  illiberal  epithets  be- 
stowed in  this  appeal  of  the  American  commander  to  the  people 
of  Upper  Canada,  on  the  administration  of  his  majesty,  every 
inhabitant  of  the  province  is  desired  to  seek  the  confutation  of 
such  indecent  slander  in  the  review  of  his  own  particular  circum- 
stances. Where  is  the  Canadian  subject  who  can  truly  affirm 
to  himself  that  he  has  been  injured  by  the  government,  in  his 
person,  his  property,  or  his  liberty?  Where  is  to  be  found,  in 
any  part  of  the  world,  a  growth  so  rapid  in  prosperity  and  wealth, 
as  this  colony  exhibits?  Settled  not  thirty  years,  by  a  band  of 
veterans,  exiled  from  their  former  possessions  on  account  of  their 
loyalty,  not  a  descendant  of  these  brave  people  is  to  be  found, 
who,  under  the  fostering  liberality  of  their  sovereign,  has  not 
acquired  a  property  and  means  of  enjoyment  superior  to  what 
were  possessed  by  their  ancestors. 

The  unequalled  prosperity  would  not  have  been  attained  by 
the  utmost  liberality  of  the  government,  or  the  persevering  in- 


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The  Hero  of  Upper  Canada  245 

dustry  of  the  people,  had  not  the  maritime  power  of  the  mother- 
country  secured  to  its  colonists  a  safe  access  to  every  market, 
where  the  produce  of  their  labour  was  in  request. 

The  unavoidable  and  immediate  consequences  of  a  separation 
from  Great  Britain  must  be  the  loss  of  this  inestimable  advan- 
tage; and  what  is  offered  you  in  exchange?  To  become  a  terri- 
tory of  the  United  States,  and  share  with  them  that  exclusion 
from  the  ocean  which  the  policy  of  their  government  enforces; 
you  are  not  even  flattered  with  a  participation  of  their  boasted 
independence;  and  it  is  but  too  obvious  that,  once  estranged 
from  the  powerful  protection  of  the  United  Kingdom,  you  must 
be  re-annexed  to  the  dominion  of  France,  from  which  the  pro- 
vinces of  Canada  were  wrested  by  the  arms  of  Great  Britain,  at 
a  vast  expense  of  blood  and  treasure,  from  no  other  motive  than 
to  relieve  her  ungrateful  children  from  the  oppression  of  a  cruel 
neighbour.  This  restitution  of  Canada  to  the  empire  of  France, 
was  the  stipulated  reward  for  the  aid  afforded  to  the  revolted 
colonies,  now  the  United  States;  the  debt  is  still  due,  and  there 
can  be  no  doubt  but  the  pledge  has  been  renewed  as  a  considera- 
tion for  commercial  advantages,  or  rather  for  an  expected  relaxa- 
tion in  the  tyranny  of  France  over  the  commercial  world.  Are 
you  prepared,  inhabitants  of  Canada,  to  become  willing  subjects, 
or  rather  slaves,  to  the  despot  who  rules  the  nations  of  continental 
Europe  with  a  rod  of  iron?  If  not,  arise  in  a  body,  exert  your 
energies,  co-operate  cordially  with  the  King's  regular  forces  to 
repel  the  invader,  and  do  not  give  cause  to  your  children,  when 
groaning  under  the  oppression  of  a  foreign  master,  to  reproach 
you  with  having  so  easily  parted  with  the  richest  inheritance  of 
this  earth — a  participation  in  the  name,  character,  and  freedom 
of  Britons! 

The  same  spirit  of  justice,  which  will  make  every  reasonable 
allowance  for  the  unsuccessful  efforts  of  zeal  and  loyalty,  will  not 
fail  to  punish  the  defalcation  of  principle.  Every  Canadian  free- 
holder is,  by  deliberate  choice,  bound  by  the  most  solemn  oaths 
to  defend  the  monarchy,  as  well  as  his  own  property;  to  shrink 
from  that  engagement  is  a  treason  not  to  be  forgiven.  Let  no 
man  suppose  that  if,  in  this  unexpected  struggle,  his  majesty's 
arms  should  be  compelled  to  yield  to  an  overwhelming  force,  the 
province  will  be  eventually  abandoned ;  the  endeared  relations  of 


246  The  Niagara  River 

its  first  settlers,  the  intrinsic  value  of  its  commerce,  and  the  pre- 
tensions of  its  powerful  rival  to  possess  the  Canadas,  are  pledges 
that  no  peace  will  be  established  between  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  of  which  the  restoration  of  these 
provinces  does  not  make  the  most  prominent  condition. 

Be  not  dismayed  at  the  unjustifiable  threat  of  the  commander 
of  the  enemy's  forces  to  refuse  quarter,  should  an  Indian  appear 
in  the  ranks.  The  brave  bands  of  aborigines  which  inhabit  this 
colony  were,  like  his  Majesty's  other  subjects,  punished  for  their 
zeal  and  fidelity,  by  the  loss  of  their  possessions  in  the  late  colo- 
nies, and  requited  by  his  Majesty  with  lands  of  superior  value 
in  this  province.  The  faith  of  the  British  government  has  never 
yet  been  violated — the  Indians  feel  that  the  soil  they  inherit  is 
to  them  and  their  posterity  protected  from  the  base  arts  so  fre- 
quently devised  to  over-reach  their  simplicity.  By  what  new 
principle  are  they  to  be  prohibited  from  defending  their  property  ? 
If  their  warfare,  from  being  different  to  that  of  the  white  people, 
be  more  terrific  to  the  enemy,  let  him  retrace  his  steps — they 
seek  him  not — and  cannot  expect  to  find  women  and  children  in 
an  invading  army.  But  they  are  men,  and  have  equal  rights  with 
all  other  men  to  defend  themselves  and  their  property  when 
invaded,  more  especially  when  they  find  in  the  enemy's  camp  a 
ferocious  and  mortal  foe;  using  the  same  warfare  which  the 
American  commander  affects  to  reprobate. 

This  inconsistent  and  unjustifiable  threat  of  refusing  quarter, 
for  such  a  cause  as  being  found  in  arms  with  a  brother  sufferer, 
in  defence  of  invaded  rights,  must  be  exercised  with  the  certain 
assurance  of  retaliation,  not  only  in  the  limited  operations  of  war 
in  this  part  of  the  King's  dominions,  but  in  every  quarter  of  the 
globe;  for  the  national  character  of  Britain  is  not  less  distin- 
guished for  humanity  than  strict  retributive  justice,  which  will 
consider  the  execution  of  this  inhuman  threat  as  deliberate  mur- 
der, for  which  every  subject  of  the  offending  power  must  make 
expiation. 

Few  men  ever  had  the  task  that  General  Brock  now 
essayed  thrown  upon  their  shoulders.  With  some  fif- 
teen hundred   men   he   had   to   occupy  the   forts   St. 


The  Hero  of  Upper  Canada  247 

Joseph,  Amherstburg  (Maiden),  Chippewa,  Erie,  and 
George,  together  with  York  (Toronto)  and  Kingston; 
maintain  British  supremacy,  if  possible,  on  three  great 
lakes;  preserve  the  long  communication  and  defend  a 
frontier  eight  hundred  and  more  miles  in  length.  And 
it  is  to  be  remembered  that  even  in  time  of  peace  there 
had  been  no  little  trouble  in  keeping  the  British  regulars 
from  deserting  to  the  American  side  of  the  Niagara — 
probably  to  take  advantage  of  the  splendid  agricultural 
and  commercial  opportunities  in  the  West  just  then 
being  thrown  open  to  the  pioneer  hosts  and  to  which 
Easterners  were  flocking  "in  shoals,"  as  one  observer 
put  it.  His  position  was  the  more  peculiar  because 
of  the  nature  of  the  larger  portion  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  upper  province,  the  loyalists.  Having  fled  from 
the  United  States  in  the  hours  of  the  Revolution,  fancy 
now  the  thoughts  of  these  honest  people  as  they  faced 
the  prospect  of  their  land  of  refuge  being  invaded  by 
an  army  from  the  land  below  the  lakes!  Seldom  did 
a  people  have  more  cause  for  apprehension ;  seldom  did 
the  inhabitants  of  an  invaded  land  look  less  for  commis- 
eration on  the  part  of  the  invaders.  The  result  was 
that  a  very  few  fled  back  again  to  the  land  of  their 
birth ;  but  the  vast  majority  resolved  to  trust  the  issue 
to  Providence — and  these  looked  to  General  Brock  to 
preserve  the  land. 

The  situation  was  unique  and  gave  the  man  at  the 
helm  a  singular  opportunity  to  prove  himself  and  win 
the  deathless  devotion  of  a  whole  people.  Little  wonder 
that  the  man  who  proved  himself  equal  to  this  critical 
hour  will  forever  be  known  as  "The  Hero  of  Upper 
Canada." 

Brigadier-General  Hull  had  advanced  into  Upper 


248  The  Niagara  River 

Canada  from  Detroit  early  in  July,  but  it  was  not  until 
the  capture  of  Hull's  despatches  by  Colonel  Proctor  in 
the  affair  near  Brownsville  when  Van  Home's  party 
was  ambushed  that  Brock  planned  to  execute  the  dar- 
ing advance  which  ended  in  the  astonishing  capture 
of  Detroit  and  Hull's  entire  army.  On  the  6th  of 
August  Brock  departed  from  York,  with  five  hundred 
additional  volunteers,  largely  sons  of  loyalists,  who 
were  very  true  to  their  adopted  country  in  this  crisis — 
or,  perhaps  we  should  say,  loyal  to  this  brave  leader  in 
whom  were  suddenly  found  the  qualities  required  by 
the  extraordinary  occasion.  Being  compelled  to  leave 
a  part  of  the  little  force  he  was  leading  westward  along 
the  Niagara  River,  General  Brock  reached  Amherstburg 
(Maiden)  in  five  days  and  nights  with  some  three  hun- 
dred followers.  It  is  plain  on  this  showing  that  what- 
ever the  result  of  the  bold  enterprise  there  was  now 
no  hesitation  in  carrying  it  out.  Tecumseh's  salute 
in  his  honour  was  suppressed  as  quickly  as  possible, 
such  was  the  scarcity  of  powder!  There  is  something 
pathetically  interesting  in  two  despatches  issued  by 
Brock  on  two  successive  days, — August  14th  and  15th. 
One  was  an  appeal  to  his  troops  to  prevent  desertion 
among  the  country  folk  who  felt  it  imperative  to  get  in 
their  crops ;  the  other  was  an  ultimatum  to  Hull  sum- 
moning him  to  surrender.  The  incongruity  of  the  two 
epistles  is  almost  amusing,  especially  when  it  is  re- 
membered that  the  British  had  very  little  powder  and 
a  force  smaller  than  that  opposed  to  it  beyond  the 
Detroit  River.     And  yet  the  bombastic  order  reads : 

The  force  at  my  disposal  authorises  me  to  require  of  you  the 
immediate  surrender  of  Fort  Detroit.  It  is  far  from  my  inclina- 
tion to  join  in  a  war  of  extermination;  but  you  must  be  aware 


The  Hero  of  Upper  Canada  249 

that  the  numerous  body  of  Indians  who  have  attached  them- 
selves to  my  troops  will  be  beyond  my  control  the  moment  the 
contest  commences.  You  will  find  me  disposed  to  enter  into  such 
conditions  as  will  satisfy  the  most  scrupulous  sense  of  honour. 
Lieut.-Colonel  M'Donell  and  Major  Glegg  are  fully  authorised 
to  conclude  any  arrangement  that  may  lead  to  prevent  the  un- 
necessary effusion  of  blood. 

An  answer  of  bold  and  frank  tenor  from  Hull  was 
received  by  the  desperate  Brock,  who  immediately 
chose  his  course ;  there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  retreat 
or  attack  the  enemies'  position;  he  could  not  sit  still; 
he  was  in  George  Rogers  Clark's  shoes  at  Kaskaskia 
a  generation  before  when  Hamilton  had  captured  Vin- 
cennes — he  must  capture  Hull  or  be  captured  by  Hull. 
It  was  true  to  the  kind  of  man  he  was  that  Brock  should 
spurn  the  advice  of  his  officers  to  retreat  and  should 
determine,  despite  their  objections,  to  put  his  threat 
into  execution.  On  Sunday,  the  16th  of  August, 
Brock's  determined  men  were  crossing  the  Strait.  His 
force  included  less  than  four  hundred  regulars  and 
about  that  many  militia  supported  by  some  six 
hundred  Indians.  The  American  troops  numbered 
upwards  of  two  thousand.  As  is  well  known  Brock 
received  notification  as  his  force  was  moving  upon  the 
fort  that  General  Hull  was  ready  to  treat  with  him. 
The  resolute  deportment  of  the  desperate  Brock  had 
won  for  him  and  his  King  a  bloodless  conquest  that  will 
go  down  in  history  as  one  of  the  most  heroic  on  the  part 
of  one  commander  and  most  despicable  on  the  part  of 
the  other  to  be  found  in  the  annals  of  warfare.  Con- 
gressmen who  had  been  boasting  in  debate  that  it  was 
unnecessary  to  even  send  troops  into  the  Canadas  since 
officers  alone,  by  appearing  there,  could  rally  armies 


250  The  Niagara  River 

of  disaffected  persons  about  them,  now  read  that  one 
determined  man,  acting  against  the  advice  of  his  offi- 
cers had  appeared  at  the  gates  of  Detroit  with  half  an 
army  and  taken  its  keys  as  readily  as  though  they  were 
voted  to  him  by  the  city  fathers  and  brought  to  him 
on  a  silver  salver.  "We  have  the  Canadas,"  rang  the 
silvery  voice  of  Henry  Clay  in  Congress,  "  as  much  under 
our  command  as  Great  Britain  has  the  ocean;  and  the 
way  to  conquer  her  on  the  ocean  is  to  drive  her  from 
the  land."  No  one  could  have  more  completely  mis- 
judged an  enemy  or  his  own  country  as  did  the  great 
Kentuckian  in  this  instance. 

It  is  interesting  in  the  extreme  to  survey  the  man 
who  had  won  a  signal  triumph  as  he  now  marches 
back  to  York  and  Fort  George  where  he  had  spent 
so  many  useless,  fruitless  years,  as  it  seemed  to  him — 
yearning  in  season  and  out  of  season  for  the  opportunity 
to  get  away  to  the  Peninsula,  or  somewhere  where  fame 
might  be  achieved.  Brock's  success  is  a  great  lesson 
to  all  ambitious  men.  Doing  the  humble  drudgery  of 
the  duty  that  lay  next  his  hand,  despite  the  regret 
and  even  pain  occasioned  by  lack  of  opportunity,  this 
man  suddenly  came  into  a  fame  world-wide  and  the 
honour  of  the  Bath  that  he  thought  could  come  to  him 
only  in  sunny  Spain.  On  the  10th  of  the  following 
October  General  Brock's  brother  William  was  asked  by 
his  wife  why  the  park  and  tower  guns  were  saluting. 
"For  Isaac,  of  course,"  he  answered,  playfully;  "don't 
you  know  that  this  is  Isaac's  birthday?"  A  little  later 
he  learned  that  the  news  of  the  surrender  of  Detroit 
had  just  been  received,  and  that  his  playful  answer 
was  very  near  the  truth  after  all ! 

It  is  fruitless  to  imagine  what  might  have  been  the 


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The  Hero  of  Upper  Canada  251 

trend  of  events  in  Canada  but  for  the  daring  decision 
made  by  Brock  to  move  upon  Detroit;  his  courage  in 
running  in  the  teeth  of  the  wind  and  trusting  to  Provi- 
dence to  fetch  the  quay  by  hook  or  crook,  is  the  very 
quality  of  the  human  heart  that  mankind  most  delights 
to  honour;  it  is  remarkable  that  the  imbecility  of  Hull 
could  have  so  completely  blinded  our  American  eyes 
to  this  display  of  splendid  daring  of  Brock's,  which 
ranks  with  Clark's  bold  march  through  the  drowned 
lands  of  the  Wabash,  or  Wayne's  attack  on  Stony  Point. 
The  capture  of  Hull  and  Detroit  unquestionably  saved 
Upper  Canada  to  England;  for  though  American  arms 
were  successful  to  some  degree  beyond  the  line,  as  we 
shall  see,  the  successes  did  not  count  toward  conquest 
and  annexation  as  would  have  been  the  case,  perhaps, 
had  they  come  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war.  All  Can- 
ada felt  the  heartening  effect  of  Brock's  inexplicable  vic- 
tory; thousands  who  had  feared  instant  and  ruthless 
invasion  now  felt  strong  to  repel  any  and  all  invaders ; 
and  the  effect  extended  to  the  Indian  allies  and  across 
the  ocean  to  the  home-country,  as  well.  Had  Clay's 
theory  been  true  and  the  war  had  to  be  settled  by  land 
battles,  Detroit  would  have  delayed  the  end  for  many 
years;  but  America  was  soon  to  show  a  power  on  the 
sea  as  surprising  as  the  stupidity  of  some  of  her  com- 
manders on  shore  and  play  England  at  her  own  sea-dog 
game  with  her  own  weapons  and  gain  the  victory. 

The  General's  letter  to  his  brothers  is  interesting  as 
exhibiting  the  man's  private  views  on  his  great  success : 

I  have  received  [he  writes]  so  many  letters  from  people  whose 
opinion  I  value,  expressive  of  their  admiration  of  the  exploit, 
that  I  begin  to  attach  to  it  more  importance  than  I  was  at  first 
inclined.     Should  the  affair  be  viewed  in  England  in  the  light  it 


252  The  Niagara  River 

is  here,  I  cannot  fail  of  meeting  reward,  and  escaping  the  horror 
of  being  placed  high  on  a  shelf,  never  to  be  taken  down.  Some 
say  that  nothing  could  be  more  desperate  than  the  measure ;  but 
I  answer,  that  the  state  of  the  province  admitted  of  nothing  but 
desperate  remedies.  I  got  possession  of  the  letters  my  antagon- 
ist addressed  to  the  secretary  of  war,  and  also  of  the  sentiments 
which  hundreds  of  his  army  uttered  to  their  friends.  Confidence 
in  the  General  was  gone,  and  evident  despondency  prevailed 
throughout.  I  have  succeeded  beyond  expectation.  I  crossed 
the  river,  contrary  to  the  opinion  of  Colonel  Proctor,  .  .  . 
etc.1;  it  is,  therefore,  no  wonder  that  envy  should  attribute  to 
good  fortune  what,  in  justice  to  my  own  discernment,  I  must 
say,  proceeded  from  a  cool  calculation  of  the  pours  and  contres. 

General  Brock,  along  with  most  other  British  lead- 
ers who  operated  along  the  American  frontier,  has  been 
accused  of  using  the  savages  to  fight  in  savage  ways 
the  battles  of  white  men  against  fellow  whites.  Ros- 
siter  Johnson,  in  his  War  of  1812,  to  cite  one  of  the  care- 
ful students  who  has  thus  referred  to  Brock,  in  speaking 
of  the  minute-guns  fired  on  the  American  shore  during 
Brock's  funeral,  says: 

There  was  perhaps  no  harm  in  this  little  bit  of  sentiment, 
though  if  the  Americans  remembered  that  two  months  before, 
in  demanding  the  surrender  of  Detroit,  General  Brock  had  threat- 
ened to  let  loose  a  horde  of  savages  upon  the  garrison  and  town, 
if  he  were  compelled  to  capture  it  by  force,  they  must  have  seen 
that  their  minute-guns  were  supremely  illogical,  not  to  say  silly.2 

One  who  has  any  reason  to  know  how  much  basis 
Washington  had  for  his  sweeping  remark  that  most 
of  the  trouble  the  United  States  had  with  the  western 

1  In  the  face  of  the  fact  here  divulged  concerning  Proctor's  attitude 
toward  Brock's  determination  to  move  upon  Detroit  it  is  interesting  to  re- 
member Brock's  very  high  praise  of  Proctor  in  his  report  of  the  capture. 
His  words,  so  characteristic  of  the  gentleman,  were :  "  I  have  been  admira- 
bly supported  by  Colonel  Proctor.  .  .  ." 
2  P.  60. 


The  Hero  of  Upper  Canada  253 

Indians  was  due  to  the  demeanour  of  British  officers  to 
them,  could  only  with  difficulty  become  prejudiced  in 
favour  of  any  British  officers  who  had  actual  dealings 
with  the  Canadian  Indians  and  actually  led  them  in 
person  to  battle.  And  yet  the  present  writer  has  found 
sufficient  ground  in  Brock's  correspondence  for  holding 
that  Brock  was  above  reproach  personally  on  this  score 
— that  he  was  a  gentleman  here  as  elsewhere,  a  true 
nobleman.  We  cannot  here  enter  into  a  lengthy  discus- 
sion of  such  a  difficult  problem.  A  letter  extant,  writ- 
ten by  Brock  to  General  Prevost,  shows  his  attitude  in 
this  delicate  matter  during  those  desperate  days  when 
Harrison  was  fighting  the  wily  Tecumseh: 

My  first  care,  on  my  arrival  in  this  province,  was  to  direct 
the  officers  of  the  Indian  department  at  Amherstburg  to  exert 
their  whole  influence  with  the  Indians  to  prevent  the  attack 
which  I  understood  a  few  tribes  meditated  against  the  American 
frontier.  But  their  efforts  proved  fruitless,  as  such  was  the  in- 
fatuation of  the  Indians,  that  they  refused  to  listen  to  advice. 

It  will  always  be  an  open  question  how  much  con- 
trol the  responsible  men,  either  American  or  British, 
had  over  their  red-skinned  "brothers"  compared  with 
their  half -renegade,  forest-running  underlings  who  dis- 
pensed the  powder,  blankets,  and  fire-water  and  directed 
affairs  much  as  they  pleased. 

Before  the  outbreak  of  the  war  Brock  wrote  to  his 
superiors  concerning  his  province  as  follows : 

The  first  point  to  which  I  am  anxious  to  call  your  excellency's 
attention  is  the  district  of  Amherstburg.  I  consider  it  the  most 
important,  and,  if  supplied  with  the  means  of  commencing  active 
operations,  must  deter  any  offensive  attempt  on  this  province, 
from  Niagara  westward.  The  American  government  will  be  com- 
pelled to  secure  their  western  frontier  from  the  inroads  of  the 
Indians,  and  this  cannot  be  effected  without  a  very  considerable 


254  The  Niagara  River 

force.  But  before  we  can  expect  an  active  co-operation  on  the 
part  of  the  Indians,  the  reduction  of  Detroit  and  Michilimaki- 
nack  must  convince  that  people,  who  conceive  themselves  to  have 
been  sacrificed,  in  1794,  to  our  policy,1  that  we  are  earnestly  en- 
gaged in  the  war.  The  Indians,  I  am  made  to  understand,  are 
eager  for  an  opportunity  to  avenge  the  numerous  injuries  of  which 
they  complain.  A  few  tribes,  at  the  instigation  of  a  Shawnese, 
of  no  particular  note,  have  already,  although  explicitly  told  not 
to  look  for  assistance  from  us,  commenced  the  contest.  The  stand 
which  they  continue  to  make  upon  the  Wabash,  against  about  two 
thousand  Americans,  including  militia  and  regulars,  is  a  strong 
proof  of  the  large  force  which  a  general  combination  of  the  In- 
dians will  render  necessary  to  protect  so  widely  extended  a  frontier. 

Again,  Brock  was  in  a  very  different  position  from 
the  British  commanders  during  the  Revolution;  his 
province  was  being  invaded  and  the  Indians  who  had 
settled  under  the  auspices  of  the  British  Government 
in  that  province  were  threatened  with  destruction  as 
seriously  as  the  loyalists  or  the  native  Englishmen 
transplanted  from  the  mother-country.  Surely,  no  one 
would  expect  Indians  whose  homes  lay  in  the  upper 
province  to  remain  neutral  when  that  province  was 
invaded.  Indeed,  in  February,  181 2,  we  find  Brock 
complaining  to  his  superior  of  the  lax  attention  that 
was  paid  by  the  Government  to  the  Indians  settled  in 
the  province  he  had  been  sent  to  govern. 

Divisions  are  thus  uninterruptedly  sowed  among  our  Indian 
friends  [he  wrote,  meaning,  of  course,  sowed  by  Americans],  and 
the  minds  of  many  altogether  estranged  from  our  interests. 
Such  must  inevitably  be  the  consequence  of  our  present  inert 
and  neutral  proceedings  in  regard  to  them.  It  ill  becomes  me 
to  determine  how  long  true  policy  requires  that  the  restrictions 
imposed  upon  the  Indian  department  ought  to  continue ;  but  this 
I  will  venture  to  assert,  that  each  day  the  officers  are  restrained 

1  The  reference  here  is  to  the  failure  of  the  British  to  assist  the  Indian 
confederacy  withstand  General  Wayne's  invasion  of  the  Maumee  Valley 
which  ended  in  the  victory  of  Fallen  Timber. 


The  Hero  of  Upper  Canada  255 

from  interfering  in  the  concerns  of  the  Indians,  each  time  they 
advise  peace  and  withhold  the  accustomed  supply  of  ammunition, 
their  influence  will  diminish,  till  at  length  they  lose  it  altogether. 

Nothing  shows  better  the  activity  of  the  American 
officers  in  seeking  to  line  the  Indians  up  on  the  side  of 
the  fighting  Republic  than  Brock's  letters  to  his  supe- 
riors. We  have  already  seen  that  Brock  had,  as  late 
as  July  3d,  little  hope  of  keeping  the  Indians  of  the 
Grand  River  true  to  him  because  of  the  American  influ- 
ence exerted  over  them  by  active  agents.  And  we 
have  seen,  in  his  counter-proclamation  answering  that 
issued  by  General  Hull,  that  Brock  places  the  employ- 
ment of  the  Indians  on  the  ground  of  territorial  rights : 
"By  what  new  principle,"  he  asks,  "are  they  to  be 
prohibited  from  defending  their  property?" 

The  ominous  words  used  by  General  Brock  in  his 
summons  to  Hull  to  surrender  have,  it  must  be  admit- 
ted, all  the  ring  of  a  threat;  but,  for  one,  I  do  not  take 
them  to  be  that  primarily,  but  rather  the  honest,  frank 
words  of  a  gentleman.  In  case  of  the  sacking  of  De- 
troit Brock  could  not  have  controlled  those  redskins  of 
his,  and  he  knew  it.  In  like  circumstances  what  general 
had  been  able  to  control  the  Indians  attached  to  him  ? 
In  the  single  instance  of  Sir  William  Johnson  at  the 
fall  of  Fort  Niagara,  we  find  an  illustration  of  approxi- 
mate control,  yet  nothing  in  the  world  but  the  power 
of  that  great  man  would  have  answered  under  the 
circumstances.  I  would  believe  that  Brock  knew  he 
could  not  control  his  Iroquois  allies, 1  whether  in  victory 
or  in  defeat,  and  made  a  plain  statement  to  Hull  to 
that  effect.     That  he  told  the  truth  I  think  no  one  can 

1  That  Brock  feared  the  Indians  when  acting  in  unison,  that  is,  when 
not  "interspersed"  among  the  troops,  is  perfectly  plain  from  his  letter 
to  General  Prevost  of  July  3d. 


256  The  Niagara  River 

doubt  after  examining  the  situation ;  whether  he  would 
have  told  the  truth  if  the  truth  had  not  carried  a  threat 
may  be  questioned.  The  truth  usually  answers  a  gen- 
tleman's purposes,  and  Brock  was  that  to  the  marrow 
of  his  bones. 

Brock  had  not  overestimated  the  effect  and  influ- 
ence of  his  bloodless  victory  upon  the  English,  but,  by 
strange  caprice  of  Fate,  was  not  permitted  to  live  to 
receive  the  high  honours  bestowed  upon  him.  On  the 
thirteenth  of  the  following  October,  in  the  battle  of 
Queenston  Heights,  elsewhere  described,  while  reform- 
ing the  broken  British  ranks  for  a  second  time,  a  bullet 
in  the  breast  cut  short  a  life  that  promised  very  high 
attainment.  As  was  his  custom  the  General  had  arisen 
before  daybreak  on  this  fatal  day  and  had  left  Fort 
George  at  the  first  sound  of  the  battle  on  the  heights. 
His  conspicuous  presence,  bright  uniform,  and  animated 
deportment  in  attempting  to  reform  the  broken  lines, 
made  him  a  plain  target  for  Wool's  heroic  men,  who  had 
climbed  up  a  pathway  steeper  than  any  Wolfe's  troops 
ever  saw  at  Quebec.  "Push  on  the  York  volunteers," 
were  the  words  of  the  brave  man's  last  order;  but  as 
he  lay  in  the  arms  of  his  aides  he  begged  that  his  injury 
might  not  be  noticed  by  the  troops  or  disconcert  their 
advance ;  and  with  one  half -understood  wish  concern- 
ing a  token  of  love  to  be  given  to  his  sister,  Isaac 
Brock  fell  dead. 

It  is  not  given  to  many  notable  men  to  fall  in  the 
very  midst  of  spectacular  success;  it  can  easily  be  be- 
lieved that  General  Brock,  being  the  man  we  know  him 
to  have  been,  would  have  made  the  best  use  of  his  tri- 
umph, and  that  it  would  have  been  but  a  stepping-stone 
to  enlarged  opportunities  where  each  duty  in  its  turn 


The  Hero  of  Upper  Canada  257 

would  have  received  the  same  decent,  earnest  attention 
that  the  man  gave  to  his  work  throughout  those  half- 
unhappy  days  when  he  felt  marooned  in  the  wilds  of 
a  dreary  ocean,  where  no  one  could  prove  his  merit, 
calibre,  or  knowledge.  And  so,  after  all  is  said  for  this 
fine  man,  I,  for  one,  like  best  to  go  back  to  those  days 
of  impatient  longing  for  opportunity  amid  the  dull 
grind  of  routine  at  Fort  George,  and  see  the  real  spirit 
of  Brock  who,  in  all  truth,  deserves  the  honourable  title 
of  "Hero  of  Upper  Canada";  and  when  you  have 
caught  the  spirit  displayed  by  him  in  those  dispiriting 
days,  realise  his  careful  faithfulness  in  the  humdrum 
life  he  was  asked  to  live,  while  his  schoolmates  of  war 
were  winning  great  glory  on  the  epoch-making  Euro- 
pean battlefields,  join  to  it  that  sudden  burst  of  splen- 
did grit  and  heroism  that  provoked  the  Detroit  attack 
despite  the  advice  of  the  staff  officers,  and  you  have  a 
combination  that  thrills  the  heart  of  friend  and  enemy 
— of  all  who  love  patient  doing  of  duty  and  real  displays 
of  undiluted  heroism. 

Some  of  the  best  tributes  to  Brock,  were,  as  should 
have  been  the  case,  those  paid  by  persons  who  knew  of 
his  place  in  the  hearts  of  the  people  of  his  adopted  land 
of  service: 

The  news  of  the  death  of  this  excellent  officer  [observed  the 
Quebec  Gazette]  has  been  received  here  as  a  public  calamity. 
The  attendant  circumstances  of  victory  scarcely  checked  the 
painful  sensation.  His  long  residence  in  this  province,  and 
particularly  in  this  place,  had  made  him  in  habits  and  good  offices 
almost  a  citizen;  and  his  frankness,  conciliatory  disposition,  and 
elevated  demeanour,  an  estimable  one.  The  expressions  of  regret 
as  general  as  he  was  known,  and  not  uttered  by  friends  and 
acquaintances  only,  but  by  every  gradation  of  class,  not  only  by 
grown  persons,  but  young  children,  are  the  test  of   his  worth. 


258  The  Niagara  River 

Such,  too,  is  the  only  eulogium  worthy  of  the  good  and  brave, 
and  the  citizens  of  Quebec  have,  with  solemn  emotions,  pro- 
nounced it  on  his  memory.  But  at  this  anxious  moment  other 
feelings  are  excited  by  his  loss.  General  Brock  had  acquired  the 
confidence  of  the  inhabitants  within  his  government.  He  had 
secured  their  attachment  permanently  by  his  own  merits.  They 
were  one  people  animated  by  one  disposition,  and  this  he  had 
gradually  wound  up  to  the  crisis  in  which  they  were  placed. 
Strange  as  it  may  seem,  it  is  to  be  feared  that  he  had  become  too 
important  to  them.  The  heroic  militia  of  Upper  Canada,  more 
particularly,  had  knit  themselves  to  his  person;  and  it  is  yet 
to  be  ascertained  whether  the  desire  to  avenge  his  death  can 
compensate  the  many  embarrassments  it  will  occasion.  It  is 
indeed  true  that  the  spirit,  and  even  the  abilities,  of  a  distin- 
guished man  often  carry  their  influence  beyond  the  grave;  and 
the  present  event  furnishes  its  own  example,  for  it  is  certain 
notwithstanding  General  Brock  was  cut  off  early  in  the  action, 
that  he  had  already  given  an  impulse  to  his  little  army,  which 
contributed  to  accomplish  the  victory  when  he  was  no  more. 
Let  us  trust  that  the  recollection  of  him  will  become  a  new  bond 
of  union,  and  that,  as  he  sacrificed  himself  for  a  community  of 
patriots,  they  will  find  a  new  motive  to  exertion  in  the  obligation 
to  secure  his  ashes  from  the  pestilential  dominion  of  the  enemy. 

A  Montreal  newspaper  of  the  day  also  contained 
the  following  observations: 

The  private  letters  from  Upper  Canada,  in  giving  the  account 
of  the  late  victory  at  Queenstown,  are  partly  taken  up  with 
lamentations  upon  the  never-to-be-forgotten  General  Brock, 
which  do  honour  to  the  character  and  talents  of  the  man  they 
deplore.  The  enemy  have  nothing  to  hope  from  the  loss  they 
have  inflicted;  they  have  created  a  hatred  which  panteth  for 
revenge.  Although  General  Brock  may  be  said  to  have  fallen 
in  the  midst  of  his  career,  yet  his  previous  services  in  Upper  Can- 
ada will  be  lasting  and  highly  beneficial.  When  he  assumed 
the  government  of  the  province,  he  found  a  divided,  disaffected, 
and,  of  course,  a  weak  people.  He  has  left  them  united  and 
strong,  and  the  universal  sorrow  of  the  province  attends  his  fall. 
The  father,  to  his  children,  will  make  known  the  mournful  story. 


The  Hero  of  Upper  Canada  259 

The  veteran,  who  fought  by  his  side  in  the  heat  and  burthen  of 
the  day  of  our  deliverance,  will  venerate  his  name. 

And  the  sentiments  of  the  British  Government,  on 
the  melancholy  occasion,  were  thus  expressed  in  a 
despatch  from  Earl  Bathurst,  the  secretary  of  state  for 
the  colonies,  to  Sir  George  Prevost,  dated  December  8, 
1812: 

His  Royal  Highness  the  Prince  Regent  is  fully  aware  of  the 
severe  loss  which  his  Majesty's  service  has  experienced  in  the 
death  of  Major-General  Sir  Isaac  Brock.  This  would  have  been 
sufficient  to  have  clouded  a  victory  of  much  greater  importance. 
His  Majesty  has  lost  in  him  not  only  an  able  and  meritorious 
officer,  but  one  who,  in  the  exercise  of  his  functions  of  provisional 
lieutenant-governor  of  the  province,  displayed  qualities  admir- 
ably adapted  to  awe  the  disloyal,  to  reconcile  the  wavering,  and 
to  animate  the  great  mass  of  the  inhabitants  against  successive 
attempts  of  the  enemy  to  invade  the  province,  in  the  last  of  which 
he  unhappily  fell,  too  prodigal  of  that  life  of  which  his  eminent 
services  had  taught  us  to  understand  the  value. 

The  body  of  the  fallen  hero  lay  in  state  at  the  gov- 
ernment house  until  the  16th  of  October,  when,  with 
that  of  Colonel  McDonell,  it  was  buried  with  due  hon- 
ours in  a  cavalier  bastion  of  Fort  George,  at  the  spot 
now  marked  by  the  tablet  indicating  the  first  burial- 
place.  On  the  13th  of  October,  1824,  the  remains  were 
moved  to  the  summit  of  the  heights,  whereon  a  beau- 
tiful monument  had  been  erected  by  the  Provincial 
Legislature,  135  feet  in  height,  bearing  this  "splendid 
tribute  to  the  unfading  remembrance  of  a  grateful 
people": 

UPPER  CANADA 
HAS  DEDICATED  THIS  MONUMENT 


260  The  Niagara  River 

TO  THE  MEMORY  OF  THE  LATE 

MAJOR-GENERAL  SIR  ISAAC   BROCK,   K.B. 

PROVISIONAL  LIEUT. -GOVERNOR  AND  COMMANDER  OF  THE   FORCES 

IN  THIS  PROVINCE 

WHOSE  REMAINS  ARE  DEPOSITED  IN  THE  VAULT  BENEATH 

OPPOSING  THE  INVADING  ENEMY 

HE  FELL  IN  ACTION  NEAR  THESE  HEIGHTS 

ON  THE   I3TH  OCTOBER,   l8l2 

IN  THE  43D  YEAR  OF  HIS  AGE 

REVERED  AND  LAMENTED 

BY  THE  PEOPLE  WHOM  HE  GOVERNED 

AND  DEPLORED  BY  THE  SOVEREIGN 

TO  WHOSE  SERVICE  HIS  LIFE  HAD  BEEN  DEVOTED. 

The  following  description  of  this  interesting  pageant 
portrays  the  genuine  feeling  of  devotion  felt  for  the 
"Hero  of  Upper  Canada"  that  filled  the  hearts  of  his 
countrymen : 

There  is  something  so  grand  and  imposing  in  the  spectacle  of 
a  nation's  homage  to  departed  worth,  which  calls  for  the  exer- 
cise of  so  many  interesting  feelings,  and  which  awakens  so  many 
sublime  contemplations,  that  we  naturally  seek  to  perpetuate 
the  memory  of  an  event  so  pregnant  with  instruction,  and  so 
honourable  to  our  species.  It  is  a  subject  that  in  other  and  in 
older  countries  has  frequently  exercised  the  pens,  and  has  called 
forth  all  the  descriptive  powers  of  the  ablest  writers.  But  here 
it  is  new;  and  for  the  first  time,  since  we  became  a  separate  pro- 
vince, have  we  seen  a  great  public  funeral  procession  of  all  ranks 
of  people,  to  the  amount  of  several  thousands,  bearing  the  re- 
mains of  two  lamented  heroes  to  their  last  dwelling  on  earth,  in 
the  vaults  of  a  grand  national  monument,  overtopping  the  lofti- 
est heights  of  the  most  magnificent  section  of  one  of  the  most 
magnificent  countries  in  the  world. 

The  13th  of  October,  being  the  anniversary  of  the  battle  of 
Queenstown,  and  of  the  death  of  Brock,  was  judiciously  chosen 
as  the  most  proper  day  for  the  removal  of  the  remains  of  the 
general,  together  with  those  of  his  gallant  aide-de-camp,  Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel M'Donell,  to  the  vaults  prepared  for  their  recep- 
tion on  Queenstown  Heights. 


Brock's  Monument. 


The  Hero  of  Upper  Canada  261 

The  weather  was  remarkably  fine,  and  before  ten  o'clock  a 
very  large  concourse  of  people,  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  had 
assembled  on  the  plains  of  Niagara,  in  front  of  Fort  George,  in 
a  bastion  of  which  the  bodies  had  been  deposited  for  twelve  years. 

One  hearse  covered  with  black  cloth,  and  drawn  by  four  black 
horses,  each  with  a  leader,  contained  both  the  bodies.  Soon  after 
ten,  a  lane  was  formed  by  the  ist  and  4th  regiments  of  Lincoln 
militia,  with  their  right  on  the  gate  of  Fort  George,  and  their  left 
extending  along  the  road  towards  Queenstown,  the  ranks  being 
about  forty  paces  distant  from  each  other;  within  this  line  was 
formed  a  guard  of  honour  of  the  76th  Regiment,  in  parade  order, 
having  its  left  on  the  fort.  As  the  hearse  moved  slowly  from  the 
fort,  to  the  sound  of  solemn  music,  a  detachment  of  royal  artillery 
began  to  fire  the  salute  of  nineteen  guns,  and  the  guard  of  honour 
presented  arms. 

On  moving  forwards  in  ordinary  time,  the  guard  of  honour 
broke  into  a  column  of  eight  divisions,  with  the  right  in  front, 
and  the  procession  took  the  following  order : 


A  Staff  Officer. 

Subdivision  of  Grenadiers. 

Band  of  Music. 

Right  Wing  of  76th  Regiment. 

THE    BODY. 

Aide-de-Camp  to  the  late  Major-General  Sir  Isaac  Brock. 

Chief  Mourners. 

Commissioners  for  the  Monument. 

Heads  of  Public  Departments  of  the  Civil  Government. 

Judges. 

Members  of  the  Executive  Council. 

His  Excellency  and  Suite. 

Left  Wing  of  the  76th  Regiment. 

Indian  Chiefs  of  the  Five  Nations. 

Officers  of  Militia  not  on  duty — Junior  Ranks — First  Forward. 

Four  deep. 

Magistrates  and  Civilians. 

With  a  long  Cavalcade  of  Horsemen,  and  Carriages  of  every 

description. 


262  The  Niagara  River 

On  the  17th  of  April,  1840,  a  miscreant  by  the 
name  of  Lett  laid  a  train  to  a  quantity  of  gunpowder 
secreted  beneath  the  monument  to  General  Brock  and 
fired  it,  partially  wrecking  both  the  base  and  the  pillar. 
The  criminal  had  been  compelled  to  flee  the  country 
during  the  rebellion  then  just  over,  and,  returning,  took 
this  outrageous  method  of  gratifying  his  malice.  As 
we  look  upon  the  beautiful  monument  that  stands 
above  Brock's  remains  to-day  it  is  with  a  feeling  almost 
of  pleasure  that  such  a  wretched  deed  was  necessary  to 
result  in  the  fine  pillar  that  is  one  of  the  scenic  beauties 
of  the  Niagara  country  to-day.  This  fine  shaft  bears 
the  following  inscription: 

The  Legislature  of  Upper  Canada  has  dedicated  this  Monu- 
ument  to  the  very  distinguished,  eminent,  civil,  and  military 
services  of  the  late  Sir  Isaac  Brock,  Knight  of  the  Most  Hon. 
Order  of  the  Bath,  Provisional  Lieutenant-Governor,  and  Major- 
General  commanding  the  Forces  in  this  Province,  whose  remains 
are  deposited  in  the  vault  beneath.  Having  expelled  the 
Northwestern  Army  of  the  United  States,  achieved  its  capture, 
received  the  surrender  of  Fort  Detroit,  and  the  territory  of  Michi- 
gan, under  circumstances  which  have  rendered  his  name  illustri- 
ous he  returned  to  the  protection  of  this  frontier ;  and  advancing 
with  his  small  force  to  repel  a  second  invasion  of  the  enemy, 
then  in  possession  of  these  heights,  he  fell  in  action,  on  the  13th 
of  October,  181 2,  in  the  forty-third  year  of  his  age,  honoured  and 
beloved  by  the  people  whom  he  governed  and  deplored  by  his 
Sovereign,  to  whose  service  his  life  had  been  devoted. 


Chapter  XI 
The  Second  War  with  England 

WE  have  explained  the  influence  of  the  life 
and  death  of  General  Brock  in  the  upper 
province  sufficiently  for  the  reader  to  con- 
ceive, perhaps,  an  unusual  interest  in  the 
course  of  the  war  that  soon  was  raging,  in  reality  or  in 
burlesque,  as  it  sometimes  appeared,  along  the  northern 
border;  no  one  can  take  any  interest  in  Brock's  career 
without  wondering  whether  his  province  was  invaded 
or  conquered  despite  the  sacrifices  of  this  undefeated 
but  dead  hero. 

Upon  Brock's  return  from  Detroit  he  found  General 
Stephen  Van  Rensselaer  commanding  the  American 
shore  of  the  river,  preparing,  according  to  report,  to 
begin  the  conquest  of  the  upper  province.  There  was 
much  cause  for  delay,  which  in  turn  provoked  criticism 
and  unrest,  but  as  October  of  1812  drew  near  it  was 
considered  necessary  and  possible  to  execute  the  ad- 
vance upon  Brock's  positions  along  the  river  and  on 
Queenston  Heights  and  Fort  George.  The  first  at- 
tempt to  advance  on  the  night  of  the  10th  proved 
abortive  through  the  treachery  of  an  irresponsible  lieu- 
tenant. Instead  of  quieting  the  ardour  of  the  army 
this  disgusting  mishap  made  the  troops  the  more  eager 
for  the  conflict,  and  a  new  plan  was  very  secretly  ar- 
ranged, with  such  success  that  it  is  pretty  sure  that 

263 


264  The  Niagara  River 


&' 


General  Brock  was  in  doubt  up  to  the  last  moment 
where  the  attack  was  to  be  made.  A  strong  force  had 
been  kept  at  Fort  Niagara,  and  this,  with  the  stationing 
of  Colonel  Chrystie's  troops  at  Four  Mile  Creek,  caused 
Brock  to  believe  that  the  attack  was  to  be  made  on 
Fort  George. 

The  night  of  the  twelfth  was  set  as  the  time  for  the 
second  attempt  to  cross  the  Niagara.  Soon  after  dark, 
Chrystie  with  his  three  hundred  men  marched  from 
Fort  Niagara  by  interior  routes  to  Lewiston,  reaching 
his  destination  before  midnight.  Re-enforcements 
had  also  come  from  the  Falls,  as  well  as  Colonel  Scott 
who  had  just  arrived  at  Schlosser,  aroused  by  the  infor- 
mation that  a  battle  was  soon  to  be  fought  and  glory 
to  be  won.  Scott  presented  himself  to  the  General 
asking  permission  to  take  part  in  the  engagement,  and 
though  Van  Rensselaer  could  not  change  his  plans  he 
offered  to  let  Scott  take  position  on  Lewiston  Heights 
and  co-operate  with  the  rest  of  the  army  as  he  saw  fit. 

Solomon  Van  Rensselaer  was  again  placed  in  com- 
mand but  Colonel  Chrystie  was  allowed  to  lead  an 
equal  force,  thus  recognising  his  rank.  Three  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  October  13th,  was  the  time  set  for 
crossing  the  river.  The  night  was  very  dark.  The 
plan  was  for  Chrystie  and  Van  Rensselaer  to  cross  and 
storm  the  heights,  when  the  rest  of  the  army  should 
follow  on  the  second  trip  and  attack  Queenston.  The 
boats,  however,  would  not  carry  more  than  half  the 
desired  number ;  these  with  their  leaders  landed  on  the 
Canadian  shore  not  more  than  ten  minutes  after  leaving 
Lewiston  landing,  at  the  very  spot  aimed  at,  at  the  foot 
of  the  cliff  under  Lewiston  suspension  bridge.  The 
British  were  found  very  much  on  the  alert  and  opened 


The  Second  War  with  England  265 

fire  from  the  heights  the  moment  the  boats  touched 
land.  Lovett's  battery  on  Lewiston  Heights  imme- 
diately opened  fire  in  answer,  and  this,  with  a  charge 
by  the  regulars  of  the  Thirteenth  under  Wool,  soon 
drove  the  enemy  backward  toward  Queenston.  Wool 
took  position  just  above  Queenston  when  orders  were 
given  him  to  storm  the  heights.  Eager  and  anxious 
for  the  struggle,  his  troops  were  immediately  put  in 
motion,  but  he  soon  received  orders  countermanding 
the  first  just  as  he  was  moving  rapidly  toward  the 
heights.  No  sooner  had  his  men  taken  position  in 
accord  with  it  than  the  right  flank  was  fiercely  attacked 
by  Dennis's  full  force.  At  the  same  moment  the  Brit- 
ish opened  fire  upon  the  little  body  from  the  heights. 
Wool  immediately,  without  tarrying  for  orders,  faced 
about  and  poured  such  a  fierce  fire  into  Dennis's  com- 
mand that  it  was  compelled  to  fall  back.  In  the  mean- 
time Van  Rensselaer  had  come  up  with  his  command  and 
taken  position  on  Wool's  left.  In  this  short  engage- 
ment, the  Americans  suffered  most  severely.  Van  Rens- 
selaer was  so  severely  wounded  that  he  was  forced  to 
relinquish  the  command,  and  Wool  had  been  wounded 
though  refusing  to  leave  the  field. 

The  British  on  the  heights  kept  up  a  continual  fire 
on  the  Americans,  which  from  their  position  could  not 
be  returned  with  effect,  and  the  little  invading  army 
fell  back  to  the  shore  below  the  hill  where  they  occupied 
a  more  sheltered  position. 

Daybreak  had  now  come,  and  a  storm  which  had 
raged  all  morning  had  ceased  with  the  retreat  of  the 
Americans;  but  the  storm  of  lead  was  soon  to  break 
more  furiously  than  before,  although  the  little  army 
was  in  a  sorry  plight.     Wool  was  only  twenty-three 


266  The  Niagara  River 

years  old.  The  commanding  officer,  Solomon  Van 
Rensselaer,  was  forced  to  retire.  What  was  to  be  done  ? 
Wool  had  asked  for  orders.  The  heights  must  be 
taken  or  the  enterprise  abandoned;  Wool  was  ordered 
to  storm  the  heights  and  Lush  commanded  to  follow 
and  shoot  the  first  man  that  wavered — for  signs  of 
disaffection  were  already  showing  themselves.  No 
sooner  did  Wool  receive  his  orders  than,  fired  by  the 
frenzy  of  the  battle,  forgetting  wounds  and  all  else,  he 
sprang  forward  to  its  execution.  Up  the  ascent  the 
men  rushed,  protected  from  fire  to  a  degree  by  bushes 
and  rocks.  Many  parts  of  the  hill  were  so  steep  that 
there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  pull  themselves  along 
by  the  roots  and  shrubs.  General  Brock,  in  the  mean- 
time, hardly  knew  what  to  expect.  He  was  at  Fort 
George  and  seems  to  have  had  a  determined  suspicion 
that  the  main  attack  would  be  made  upon  Fort  George 
from  Fort  Niagara.  He  heard  the  early  cannonading 
but  supposed  that  it  was  only  a  feint  to  conceal  the 
point  of  real  movement.  However,  the  true  soldier 
mounted  his  horse  and  raced  away  immediately  to  the 
scene  of  action  and  death.  On  arriving  and  taking  a 
view  of  the  field  Brock  considered  affairs  favourable 
to  the  British;  however,  he  had  hardly  dismounted  at 
the  redan  battery  than  Wool's  men  scrambled  upon 
the  heights  and  opened  up  a  galling  fire.  So  hot 
was  the  attack  that  the  Canadians  were  immediately 
forced  from  their  stronghold;  a  few  moments  later  the 
flag  of  the  Union  waved  there. 

Brock  immediately  sent  to  Fort  George  for  re- 
enforcements,  rallied  the  disorganised  force,  and  with 
Williams's  and  Dennis's  commands  attempted  to  turn 
the  American  right  flank;    Wool   perceived  the  move 


8   . 

be  o 

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o  iH 

a  § 

b£  >■ 

oj  ^ 
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Lh      0 

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a  .8 

o    fe 


The  Second  War  with  England  267 

and  tried  to  anticipate  it  by  sending  fifty  men  to  its 
protection.  These  were  forced  back  by  superior  num- 
bers, and  the  whole  command  was  compelled  to  give 
ground  until  the  edge  of  the  precipice  was  reached 
with  the  rushing  river  flood  two  hundred  feet  below. 
It  seemed  that  they  must  either  surrender  or  perish; 
one  captain  attempted  to  raise  a  white  flag  but  was 
stopped  by  Wool,  who,  having  addressed  a  few  hurried 
words  to  his  men,  led  them  to  the  charge  with  such 
fierce  zeal  that  the  British  in  turn  gave  back.  The 
brave  Brock  saw  this  movement  in  dismay;  with  a 
stinging  rebuke,  which  called  every  man  back  to  a  real- 
isation of  his  duty,  the  General  placed  himself  at  the 
head  of  the  column  to  lead  it  back  to  victory.  His  tall 
form,  towering  above  that  of  the  soldiers  around  him, 
made  a  conspicuous  mark  for  the  American  sharp- 
shooter, and  he  was  soon  struck  in  the  wrist  but  bravely 
pressed  on;  shortly  after  a  ball  entered  his  breast  and 
passed  out  of  his  side,  inflicting  a  death  wound.  He 
scarcely  had  time  to  make  a  few  last  requests  when  he 
died.  As  soon  as  the  soldiers  knew  of  their  command- 
er's death,  they  became  infuriated.  The  column 
charged  up  the  hill  toward  the  Americans.  Wool's  lit- 
tle command,  doubtful  of  victory,  spiked  the  cannon 
in  the  redan.  The  struggle  was  fierce  for  a  few  mo- 
ments; but  the  British  were  again  made  to  retire, 
leaving  Wool  master  of  Queenston  Heights. 

Re-enforcements  were  slowly  crossing  the  river. 
Colonel  Scott  had  arrived  early  in  the  morning  and 
had  placed  his  cannon  to  protect  the  crossing  as  far 
as  possible.  Later  he  received  permission  to  cross  over 
as  a  volunteer.  Having  met  with  Wadsworth  of  the 
New  York  militia,  that  officer  unselfishly  waived  his 


268  The  Niagara  River 

rank  on  account  of  Scott's  superior  military  experience, 
and  allowed  him  to  take  command  of  regulars  and 
militia,  amounting  in  all  to  some  six  hundred.  While 
Scott  was  superintending  the  unspiking  of  the  cannon 
in  the  redan  his  command  on  the  heights  was  assailed 
by  a  band  of  Indians  under  John  Brant,  son  of  the 
famous  Mohawk  chieftain.  So  furious  and  unexpected 
was  their  attack  that  the  pickets  wrere  driven  in  imme- 
diately and  the  main  body  began  to  draw  back.  This 
was  shortly  after  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  The 
militia,  unused  to  being  under  fire,  were  beginning  to 
break  away  when  Scott  appeared  and  by  his  command- 
ing presence  and  steady  nerve  led  the  men  back  to  order. 
A  charge  was  immediately  ordered,  which  was  exe- 
cuted so  fiercely  that  the  Indians  retired;  however,  they 
kept  up  a  fire  on  the  Americans  from  sheltered  positions 
until  Scott  ordered  a  general  assault  and  drove  them 
from  the  heights.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Chrystie  then 
appeared  on  the  field  for  the  first  time  and  ordered  Wool 
to  the  American  shore  to  have  his  wounds  dressed. 

General  Sheaffe  now  arrived  from  Fort  George 
with  re-enforcements  and  took  command  of  the  British 
forces;  these  now  numbered  about  thirteen  hundred 
while  the  Americans  could  not  count  over  six  hundred. 
Scheaffe  marched  to  the  east  to  St.  Davids  and  by  bril- 
liantly counter-marching  gained  the  rear  of  the  Ameri- 
can army.  Van  Rensselaer  was  on  the  heights  at  this 
time ;  seeing  these  movements  he  returned  to  send  over 
re-enforcements.  But  to  his  surprise,  and  their  own 
eternal  disgrace,  the  American  militia,  which  had  been 
crying  out  so  long  for  action,  refused  to  budge.  He, 
as  well  as  others,  threatened,  entreated,  and  implored; 
all  in  vain.     The  men  who  but  a  few  hours  before  had 


The  Second  War  with  England  269 

demanded  to  be  led  to  the  war,  now,  at  sight  of  blood 
and  the  smell  of  gun-powder,  refused  to  help  their  com- 
rades threatened  with  destruction  on  the  heights  across 
the  river.  Van  Rensselaer  transmitted  this  informa- 
tion to  Wadsworth  and  promised  boats  if  he  wished 
to  retreat,  but  he  could  not  even  make  this  promise 
good,  as  the  frightened  boatmen  refused  to  raise  an  oar. 
Nothing  was  left  for  the  little  band  on  the  heights  but 
surrender  or  death !  It  has  been  offered  in  extenuation 
of  the  action  of  the  militia  that  there  had  been  gross 
mismanagement  of  the  boats,  only  one  or  two  being 
at  hand,  necessitating  their  being  sent  across  the  river 
in  dangerously  small  parties.  Wherever  the  blame 
should  be  placed,  there  was  enough  of  it  to  go  around 
and  to  make  any  patriot  blush.  The  militia  were 
within  their  legal  rights  in  refusing  to  pass  beyond  the 
boundaries  of  their  State,  and  may  have  been  entirely 
right  in  refusing  to  attempt  the  crossing  if  it  could  not 
be  made  in  force. 

The  final  engagement  of  the  battle  of  Queenston 
Heights  was  inaugurated  about  four  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  by  General  Sheaffe  directing  a  large  body 
of  Indians  and  regulars  against  the  American  right. 
The  superior  numbers,  together  with  the  impetuous 
advance,  threw  the  Americans  into  confusion.  Scheaffe 
ordered  an  advance  along  the  whole  line  and  the  Amer- 
ican ranks  were  soon  broken,  most  of  those  fleeing 
toward  the  city  being  cut  off  by  the  Indians ;  some  few 
escaped  by  letting  themselves  down  the  steep  hill  by 
roots  and  bushes.  Several  attempts  were  made  to 
surrender,  but  it  is  said  that  even  those  bearing  the 
flag  were  shot  down  by  the  Indians.  Colonel  Scott 
was  attacked  by  two  savages  while  on  this  mission, 


270  The  Niagara  River 

but  was  valiantly  rescued  by  a  British  officer.  On 
reaching  headquarters  terms  were  soon  agreed  upon 
by  which  all  the  Americans  on  the  Canada  side  be- 
came prisoners  of  war. 

Thus  ended  this,  the  spectacular  battle  of  Queens- 
ton  Heights.  In  many  ways  it  was  typical  of  so  many 
battles  in  American  military  annals;  the  eagerness  of 
hot-headed  militia  to  hear  the  guns  popping,  the  dar- 
ing attack,  the  heroism  of  cool,  undaunted  officers,  the 
loss  of  enthusiasm  as  the  struggle  wore  on,  the  final 
conflict  of  regular  and  militia,  the  seemingly  inexcusa- 
ble lack  of  interest  on  the  part  of  the  non-combatants, 
the  flight  and  surrender — all  are  typical. 

The  death  of  the  noble  Brock  has  thrown  a  halo 
over  the  Niagara  frontier  for  Briton  and  American 
alike.  As  you  wander  to-day  across  the  pleasant  com- 
mons at  Niagara-on-t he-Lake  to  the  site  of  old  Fort 
George,  or  scramble  up  the  steep  sides  of  beautiful 
Queenston  Heights,  you  will  find  yourself  thinking  of  the 
heroic  leaders  at  the  battle  of  Queenston — Brock,  Wool, 
Chrystie,  and  the  impetuous  Scott;  to  one  rambler,  at 
least,  amid  these  striking  scenes,  the  battle,  as  such, 
quite  faded  out  of  the  perspective,  leaving  the  fine  mili- 
tary figure  of  the  British  commander  looming  up  alone 
beside  that  of  the  twenty-three-year-old  boy  Wool, 
who  had  jumped  from  his  law  books  down  in  New  York 
to  come  here  as  captain  of  militia  and  give  the  world 
another  clear  picture  of  absolute  daring  not  surpassed 
in  any  point  by  Wolfe's  at  Quebec;  the  young  Scott 
appears  too,  so  willing  to  be  in  the  fracas  across  the 
river  that  he  crosses  as  a  private  soldier.  Had  the 
faltering  militia  caught  his  spirit  there  would  have 
been,  perhaps,  another  story  to  tell  of  the  outcome  of 


The  Second  War  with  England  271 


&j 


the  battle!  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  year  19 12  will 
not  pass  without  seeing  raised  on  Lewiston  Heights  a 
monument  to  these  noble  men  equal  in  point  of  beauty 
to  the  splendid  shaft  raised  across  the  river  to  the 
memory  of  Brock. 

On  the  17th  of  November,  a  bombardment  was 
opened  on  Black  Rock  from  batteries  which  had  been 
constructed  across  the  river.  The  firing  was  kept  up  all 
day;  but  little  damage  was  done  to  the  Americans,  and 
almost  none  to  the  British,  as  few  cannon  were  mounted 
against  them.  On  the  21st  of  November  a  fierce  can- 
nonade was  opened  from  a  number  of  batteries  which 
had  been  erected  opposite  Fort  Niagara.  At  the  same 
time  the  guns  of  Fort  George,  and  all  those  of  the  vicin- 
ity which  could  be  brought  to  bear,  directed  their  fire 
against  Fort  Niagara,  and  kept  up  all  day.  The  fort 
was  fired  several  times  by  red-hot  shot  as  were  also  the 
works  of  the  enemy.  Two  Americans  were  killed  and 
two  by  the  bursting  of  a  cannon,  while  four  were 
wounded;  night  ended  the  fight  and  it  was  not  renewed. 

General  Smyth  had  succeeded  in  the  command  of 
the  American  forces  in  Van  Rensselaer's  place  after 
the  engagement  at  Queenston.  He  had  given  it  as  his 
opinion  that  the  invasion  should  have  taken  place  at 
some  point  between  Black  Rock  and  Chippewa  Creek 
and  was  now  in  position  to  carry  out  his  own  plans. 
After  a  number  of  boastful  proclamations,  orders  were 
given  the  army  on  the  25th  to  be  ready  to  march  at  a 
moment's  notice.  The  line  of  advance  was  planned 
and  the  whole  campaign  marked  out.  Boats  sufficient 
for  men  and  artillery  were  provided,  and  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Boerstler  was  to  cross  in  the  darkness  and  de- 
stroy a  bridge  about  five  miles  below  Fort  Erie,  capture 


272  The  Niagara  River 

all  men  and  supplies  possible,  and  return  to  the  Amer- 
ican shore.  Captain  King  was  to  cross  higher  up  the 
river  and  storm  the  batteries.  But  the  enemy  was  not 
to  be  caught  napping;  Smyth's  idle  boasts  and  procla- 
mations, together  with  his  statements  as  to  the  proper 
place  for  crossing,  had  put  the  British  on  their  guard 
with  the  result  that  the  whole  upper  river  was  well 
guarded. 

The  advance  parties  embarked  at  three  o'clock  on 
the  morning  of  the  29th.  Of  King's  ten  boats  only 
four  were  able  to  effect  a  landing.  His  small  command 
jumped  ashore  into  the  very  thickest  of  the  fire  and 
almost  immediately  captured  two  batteries.  Angus 
and  his  seamen  who  had  accompanied  King  rushed 
upon  the  Red  House,  captured  the  field-pieces  stationed 
there,  spiked  them,  and  threw  them  and  the  caissons 
into  the  river.  Angus  returned  to  the  river,  and,  not 
knowing  that  the  other  six  boats  had  been  unable  to 
land,  supposed  King  had  either  returned  or  been  taken 
prisoner.  It  being  too  dark  to  reconnoitre,  he  struck 
away  to  the  American  shore  in  the  four  boats,  leaving 
King  and  his  handful  of  men  helpless  in  Canada.  King, 
on  the  other  hand,  not  receiving  re-enforcements,  re- 
turned to  the  landing  and  found  all  the  boats  gone,  and 
passing  down  the  river  about  two  miles  he  discovered 
two  boats  in  which  he  placed  his  prisoners  and  half  his 
command,  and  started  them  for  the  American  shore. 
Only  a  few  moments  later  he  and  all  with  him  were 
taken  prisoners. 

The  firing  had  roused  the  British  all  along  the  line. 
A  number  of  Boerstler's  boats  were  not  able  to  find  the 
point  designated  as  their  landing-place,  and  of  those 
that  did  all  were  driven  off  but  Boerstler's  own.     In 


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The  Second  War  with  England  273 

the  face  of  a  hot  fire,  he  landed,  forced  back  the  enemy 
to  the  bridge,  but  when  he  attempted  to  destroy  that 
structure  he  found  that  in  the  excitement  the  axes, 
militia-like,  had  been  left  behind,  so  that  his  work  was 
only  partly  accomplished.  While  thus  engaged  he 
received  the  interesting  intelligence  that  the  whole 
force  at  Fort  Erie  were  only  five  minutes  distant.  In 
the  darkness  the  enemy  could  not  be  seen;  but  their 
advancing  tramp  could  be  easily  heard.  Boerstler, 
addressing  his  subordinates  as  field  officers,  succeeded 
in  deceiving  the  British  as  to  the  size  of  his  command. 
The  Americans  fired  one  volley  and  then  charged  with 
such  spirit  that  the  British  fell  back,  and  the  little 
command  recrossed  the  river  without  being  further 
molested. 

It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  before  all  was  in  readi- 
ness for  a  general  advance  and  the  enemy  were  on  the 
alert  ready  to  give  a  warm  reception.  Smyth  had  not 
been  seen  all  day.  When  finally  all  was  prepared 
orders  came  to  disembark  and  dine  and,  as  nothing 
could  be  done,  the  soldiers  retired  to  their  quarters. 

A  council  was  called,  but  no  agreement  could  be 
reached.  Smyth  ordered  another  advance  on  the  30th 
which  never  took  place.  Disagreements  between 
officers  and  insubordination  among  the  soldiers  soon 
led  to  the  abandonment  of  the  plan  entirely.  General 
Porter  openly  attributed  the  failure  to  Smyth,  which 
shortly  led  to  a  duel  in  which  neither  was  injured  and 
each  one's  honour  was  vindicated. 

While  these  absurd  pantomime  war  measures  were 

transpiring  on  land  the  little  American  navy  covered 

itself  with  glory.     By  hard  work  Lieutenant  Oliver  H. 

Perry  had  gotten  ready  nine  vessels  and  fifty-five  guns 

18 


274  The  Niagara  River 

at  Erie,  Pennsylvania,  to  oppose  six  vessels  and  sixty- 
three  guns  under  the  English  commander  Barclay. 
After  a  careful  cruise  of  the  Lake,  Perry  met  the  enemy 
in  ill  condition  for  a  battle  near  Put-in-Bay  on  the  ioth 
of  September,  1813.  The  completeness  of  his  victory 
was  described  in  his  famous  despatch  to  Harrison:  "  We 
have  met  the  enemy  and  they  are  ours;  two  ships,  two 
brigs,  one  schooner,  and  one  sloop." 

Shortly  before  the  victory  on  Lake  Erie,  Gen.  W.  H. 
Harrison,  who  now  commanded  the  North-western 
army,  accompanied  by  Johnson  and  his  Kentucky 
rifles,  crossed  into  Canada  and  during  the  last  week 
of  August  and  the  first  week  of  September  was  kept 
busy  by  the  enemy.  Proctor  did  not,  however,  seem 
anxious  to  fight  but  kept  falling  back  before  the  Amer- 
icans, much  to  the  disgust  of  the  famous  Shawanese 
chieftain  Tecumseh,  who  was  anxious  for  a  battle. 
The  army  at  last  took  position  on  the  Thames  River 
on  the  5th  of  August.  Here  they  were  attacked  by 
Harrison's  forces,  Johnson's  Kentuckians  leading  the 
successful  charge.  In  a  few  minutes  the  British  army 
with  its  Indian  allies  was  routed  and  Tecumseh  killed. 
The  North-west  was  relieved  of  further  danger;  and 
much  that  was  lost  by  Hull  was  regained  with  some- 
thing in  addition. 

The  Army  of  the  North  under  General  Dearborn, 
during  the  year  of  18 13  was  to  co-operate  in  the  inva- 
sion of  Canada,  and  on  the  27th  of  April,  18 13,  the 
American  army  crossed  Lake  Ontario  to  York,  now 
Toronto,  and  were  entirely  successful  in  capturing  that 
point,  as  more  fully  noted  in  our  chapter  on  that  city. 

It  was  part  of  Dearborn's  plan  on  capturing  York  to 
press  on  over  the  thirty  miles  to  the  River  Niagara  and 


The  Second  War  with  England  275 

take  Fort  George.  On  account  of  unfavourable  weather 
the  army  did  not  leave  York  until  the  8th  of  May,  the 
fleet  being  under  command  of  Chauncey  and  being 
joined  in  the  evening  of  the  25th  by  Perry,  who  had 
come  hastily  from  Erie.  The  attack  was  to  be  made  on 
the  morning  of  the  27th.  Dearborn  was  himself  sick, 
being  confined  to  his  bed  most  of  the  time,  but  his  or- 
ders were  faithfully  carried  out  by  his  under  officers. 
An  attempt  to  launch  several  boats  on  the  evening  of 
the  26th  brought  on  a  cannonade  from  the  batteries 
along  both  shores  as  well  as  from  Fort  George  and  Fort 
Niagara.  Darkness,  however,  came  on  and  the  prepar- 
ations were  made  by  the  Americans  under  its  cover 
without  further  molestation.  The  morning  was  some- 
what foggy  but  a  light  breeze  soon  dissipated  this  and 
revealed  a  fine  sight  for  friend  and  foe  alike.  The 
waters  of  the  lake  were  covered  with  boats  large  and 
small,  crowded  with  guns  and  soldiers,  all  advancing 
bravely  on  the  British  position. 

As  soon  as  the  fog  lifted  the  batteries  of  both  sides 
began  a  brisk  fire.  Colonel  Scott  was  in  command  of 
the  landing  party,  assisted  by  Chauncey  with  four 
hundred  seamen  to  be  used  if  necessary.  Lieutenant 
Brown  directed  such  a  hot  fire  against  the  battery 
at  the  landing  that  it  was  finally  silenced  and  Perry 
then,  being  in  command  of  the  boats,  rushed  in  despite 
a  somewhat  rough  sea,  to  effect  a  landing,  many  of 
the  troops  in  their  eagerness  leaping  into  the  water 
before  the  boats  touched  land.  The  landing  party  was 
assailed  by  a  heavy,  well-directed  musketry  fire  from 
a  neighbouring  ravine,  which  caused  them  to  scurry 
for  shelter  under  the  bank.  Perry  seemed  everywhere 
present,  urging  the  gunners  on  the  boats  to  greater 


276  The  Niagara  River 

efforts  and  cheering  on  the  landing  parties  with  words 
of  confidence.  In  attempting  to  scale  the  bank,  the 
Americans  were  several  times  hurled  back  to  the  beach, 
but  Scott  was  finally  successful  in  gaining  a  sheltered 
position  in  a  neighbouring  ravine  where  a  sharp  conflict 
ensued  for  several  minutes,  but  between  the  execution 
of  the  American  rifles  and  a  well-directed  cannonade 
from  one  of  the  vessels  the  doughty  British  were  com- 
pelled to  retreat. 

General  Vincent,  being  persuaded  that  Fort  George 
could  not  be  saved,  ordered  its  destruction,  which  in- 
formation reached  Scott  by  two  escaped  prisoners.  He 
immediately  attempted  to  save  it  if  possible,  but  a  short 
distance  from  its  walls  one  magazine  blew  up,  though 
he  reached  his  destination  in  time  to  extinguish  two 
other  fuses  and  save  the  remainder  of  the  fort.  He 
then  continued  his  pursuit  but  was  ordered  to  return 
and  had  to  give  up  what  he  thought  half  the  glory  of  the 
contest. 

Hearing  that  Colonel  Proctor  was  coming  from  the 
West  to  help  regain  the  Niagara  region,  General  Winder 
was  sent  in  pursuit  of  Vincent.  On  the  5th  he  was 
joined  by  Chandler  with  five  hundred  men,  who  took 
the  chief  command.  At  Forty-mile  Creek  they  encoun- 
tered a  body  of  the  enemy  and  drove  them  off;  twice 
now  they  drove  the  pickets  in  on  the  main  body  of  the 
army,  causing  no  little  alarm,  but  finally  on  account 
of  treacherous  negligence  in  the  American  camp  the 
British  effected  a  night  attack  so  well  planned  and 
brilliantly  executed  that  the  force  was  in  the  heart  of 
the  American  camp  while  the  soldiers  were  still  sleep- 
ing. In  the  confusion  that  followed,  the  Americans 
several  times  attacked  their  own  men.     The  British  loss 


The  Second  War  with  England  277 

was  the  heavier,  and  they  were  compelled  to  retire, 
but  the  victory  was  felt  to  be  a  decided  one  from  the 
fact  that  they  captured  two  American  generals. 

The  Americans,  fearing  a  renewal  of  the  attack, 
began  to  retreat.  Near  Forty-mile  Creek  they  were 
joined  by  Colonel  Miller  With  reinforcements,  and  retreat 
was  continued  with  a  fleet  watching  them  from  the 
lake  and  a  small  army  of  regulars  and  a  body  of  sav- 
ages following  in  the  rear.  The  army  finally  reached 
Fort  George  after  having  lost  several  prisoners  who  had 
been  picked  up  in  the  rear.  For  several  days  the  ves- 
sels were  a  continual  menace  to  the  passage  of  Ameri- 
can supplies,  but  on  the  20th  the  squadron  sailed  for 
Oswego.  Not  daring  to  make  an  attack  here,  they 
again  turned  westward  and  took  position  off  Niagara 
River. 

While  the  operations  were  going  on  against  the 
Niagara  frontier,  a  British  squadron  appeared  against 
Sacketts  Harbour.  On  the  morning  of  May  29th 
the  attack  was  made,  but  so  vigilant  a  defence  was 
made  by  General  Brown  with  his  raw  militia  that  the 
enemy  were  forced  to  withdraw. 

General  Dearborn,  now  at  Fort  George,  sent  a  force 
to  attack  the  enemy  at  Beaver  Dam  and  Ten-mile 
Creek,  by  way  of  St.  Davids,  on  June  23d.  It  was 
annoyed  for  a  greater  part  of  the  way  by  Indians,  and 
when  near  the  enemy's  camp,  having  been  deceived 
as  to  the  opposing  force,  the  whole  command  was  sur- 
rendered. The  British,  emboldened  by  this  success, 
suddenly  retook  Queenston  and  shortly  after  invaded 
Fort  George,  General  Dearborn  being  relieved  of  com- 
mand by  the  still  more  incompetent  General  Wilkinson. 

The  British,  encouraged  by  their  success,  now  began 


278  The  Niagara  River 

to  make  raids  into  the  American  territory.  One  of 
these  expeditions  was  directed  against  Black  Rock  on 
July  nth.  The  expedition  put  to  flight  the  American 
guards  with  almost  no  fighting,  took  the  city  and  sup- 
plies, and  obtained  a  large  amount  of  booty.  General 
Porter,  however,  rallied  a  small  body  of  the  retreating 
militia  and  with  these  and  reinforcements  which  had 
arrived  from  Buffalo  and  about  fifty  citizens  he  fell 
with  such  force  upon  the  invaders  that  they  retreated 
precipitately  to  their  boats.  During  the  remainder 
of  the  summer  little  fighting  was  done  in  the  vicinity 
of  Fort  George  except  by  foraging  parties. 

Most  of  the  troops  had  been  withdrawn  from  the 
fort  in  the  early  winter,  leaving  only  about  sixty  men 
within  its  walls;  news  was  being  continually  received 
of  forces  marching  to  the  Niagara  region  and,  fearful 
of  losing  the  fort,  McClure,  its  commander,  determined 
to  destroy  it  and  retreat  to  Fort  Niagara.  The  fort 
was  partially  demolished,  December  10th,  but  Newark 
was  wantonly  fired,  leaving  hundreds  of  people  home- 
less in  the  severest  weather  and  rousing  the  British 
to  a  revenge  which  they  now  visited  on  the  Americans. 

On  the  12th,  Fort  Niagara  was  invested.  So  negli- 
gent were  the  officers  that  on  the  morning  of  the  13th 
one  of  the  gates  was  found  open,  and  the  enemy  en- 
tered without  opposition  to  a  victory  which  might  have 
been  almost  bloodless  had  not  the  attacking  force,  in- 
censed by  the  burning  of  Newark,  been  led  to  revenge; 
a  number  of  the  garrison  were  bayoneted ;  Lewiston  was 
sacked,  plundered,  and  almost  entirely  destroyed.  A 
body  of  soldiers  pressed  on  to  the  town  of  Niagara  Falls. 
They  were  met  on  the  heights  by  a  small  force  which 
was  not  able  to  check  them  and  the  whole  Niagara 


5 


.*•■    ■'  -•■rt- 


The  Second  War  with  England  279 

region  was  laid  waste.  The  Indians  were  turned  loose 
and  many  innocent  persons  perished  at  their  hands. 
The  advance  on  Buffalo  and  Black  Rock  was  only 
temporarily  checked  and  on  the  30th  these  cities  were 
captured  and  plundered  as  elsewhere  described.  Only 
four  houses  were  left  in  Buffalo  and  one  in  Black  Rock. 
Such  was  the  revenge  of  the  burning  of  Newark.  These 
were  dark  days  along  the  Niagara,  when  hatred  never 
bred  in  honest  warfare  flamed  up  in  the  hearts  of  men, 
and  the  beginning  of  the  story  goes  back  to  the  inhuman 
destruction  of  old  Newark. 

Toward  the  latter  part  of  March  the  campaign  of 
18 1 4  was  opened  by  General  Wilkinson  in  the  north, 
but  little  being  accomplished  he  was  soon  superseded 
by  General  Brown.  By  the  end  of  June  the  Northern 
army  was  gathered  under  Brown,  once  more  prepared 
to  carry  the  war  into  Canada,  Buffalo  being  the  head- 
quarters. On  the  morning  of  the  3d  of  July,  before 
daylight,  General  Scott  crossed  the  river  from  Black 
Rock  to  invest  Fort  Erie.  General  Ripley  was  to 
have  followed  immediately,  but  he  was  delayed  so 
long  that  it  was  broad  day  before  he  reached  the  Cana- 
dian shore.  Scott  pushed  forward  and  drove  the  en- 
emy's pickets  into  the  fort.  Brown,  not  waiting  for 
Ripley,  pushed  into  the  forest  in  the  rear  of  the  fort, 
extending  his  lines  so  as  to  enclose  the  post.  Ripley 
then  appeared  and  took  position  in  connection  with 
Scott's  command.  The  fort  was  then  summoned  to 
surrender,  which  summons,  on  account  of  its  weak 
condition,  was  soon  complied  with  just  as  reinforce- 
ments were  on  their  way  to  give  aid. 

To  stop  the  advance  of  these  troops,  Scott  was  sent 
with  his  command  down  the  river.     His  march  of  about 


280  The  Niagara  River 

sixteen  miles  was  a  continual  skirmish  with  the  British, 
and  finding  the  enemy  in  force  across  the  Chippewa 
Creek  he  encamped  for  the  night.  Before  morning  of 
the  fifth  he  was  joined  by  the  main  body  of  Brown's 
army.  On  the  east  was  the  river,  on  the  west  a  heavy 
wood,  and  between  the  armies  the  Chippewa  and 
Street's  creeks.  The  British  had  also  received  rein- 
forcements during  the  night,  and  the  battle  of  Chippewa 
was  opened  by  each  army  attempting  to  test  the  other's 
strength. 

The  American  pickets  on  Scott's  left  were  in 
trouble  by  four  o'clock  and  Porter  was  sent  to  relieve 
them;  he  drove  back  the  British  and  Indians,  but  in 
following  up  his  success  found  himself  suddenly  con- 
fronted by  almost  the  whole  of  the  enemy's  army  which 
attacked  immediately.  Porter  maintained  his  ground 
at  first  but  was  finally  compelled  to  give  the  order  to 
retreat  and  this  soon  became  a  panic.  General  Brown 
noticed  this  and  correctly  supposed  that  the  whole 
force  of  the  enemy  was  advancing.  Ripley  and  Scott 
were  immediately  rushed  to  the  rescue,  Ripley  to  fall 
on  the  rear  of  the  British  right  by  stealing  through  the 
wood,  Scott  to  make  a  frontal  attack. 

The  latter  advanced  across  Street's  Creek  and  the 
engagement  became  general  along  the  whole  line  of  both 
armies.  Time  and  again  the  British  line  was  broken 
but  it  sternly  closed  and  continued  the  contest.  Scott 
finally  decided  to  take  advantage  of  what  he  considered 
the  unskilful  manoeuvres  of  his  foe;  advancing,  he 
ordered  his  forces  to  charge  through  an  opening  in 
the  lines.  Almost  at  the  same  instant  Leavenworth 
executed  a  like  movement,  while  Towson's  battery 
poured  canister  into  the  British  ranks.     They  were 


The  Second  War  with  England  281 

completely  demoralised  and  gave  back.  Jesup  on  the 
American  left  had  suffered  greatly  during  the  battle; 
forced  to  fall  back,  he  finally  found  a  better  position, 
and  now  poured  such  a  well-directed  fire  that  the  troops 
before  him  also  retired.  The  British  retreat  did  not 
stop  until  the  troops  were  behind  their  entrenchments 
below  Chippewa  and  the  bridge  across  its  waters 
destroyed.  This  stronghold  could  not  be  taken  by  the 
Americans;  the  command  was  given  to  retreat,  and 
the  same  relative  positions  were  occupied  by  the  armies 
the  night  after  the  battle  as  the  night  before. 

On  the  eighth  the  whole  American  force  again 
moved  forward.  The  British  broke  camp  and  retreated 
down  the  river  closely  pursued  by  Brown,  who  took 
possession  of  Queenston  on  the  10th.  The  enemy 
occupied  Fort  George  and  Fort  Mississaga.  Here 
Brown  decided  to  await  reinforcements  from  Chauncey 
and  his  fleet.  News,  however,  soon  came  of  the  com- 
mander's illness  and  his  blockade  in  Sacketts  Harbour, 
whereupon  Brown  on  the  23d  fell  back  to  the  Chippewa. 
In  case  Riall  did  not  follow,  he  expected  to  unlimber 
and  fight  wherever  the  enemy  might  be  found;  the 
night  of  the  24th,  the  army  encamped  on  the  battle- 
ground of  the  5th,  unconscious  of  the  laurels  to  be  won 
in  a  few  short  hours  at  far-famed  Lundy's  Lane. 

The  morning  of  the  2  5th  dawned  clear  and  beautiful. 
Unconscious  of  the  proximity  of  the  enemy,  the  Amer- 
icans were  enjoying  a  much-needed  rest  behind  the 
village  of  Chippewa,  when  about  noon  news  came  that 
the  British  were  in  force  at  Queenston  and  on  the 
heights,  and  that  Yea's  fleet  had  appeared  in  the  river. 
Next  came  information  that  the  British  were  landing 
at  Lewiston  and  were  threatening  the  supplies  at  Fort 


282  The  Niagara  River 

Schlosser.  These  reports  were  partly  true.  Pearson 
had  advanced,  unknown  to  the  Americans,  and  taken 
position  at  Lundy's  Lane  a  short  distance  from  the 
Falls.  Brown  seemed  impressed  with  the  idea  that  the 
British  were  after  the  supplies  at  Schlosser  and  he  was 
ignorant  of  the  size  of  the  force  opposed  to  him.  He 
at  once  determined  that  the  best  way  to  recall  the 
British  was  to  threaten  the  forts  at  the  mouth  of  the 
river  and  Scott  was  detailed  to  accomplish  this  task. 
Eager  for  the  conflict  his  whole  command  was  in  motion 
twenty  minutes  after  having  received  the  order.  Be- 
tween four  and  five  o'clock  the  march  of  twelve  hund- 
red men  began  toward  the  forts. 

Near  Table  Rock,  Scott  was  informed  that  General 
Riall  and  his  staff  had  just  departed.  In  fact  the  Amer- 
icans saw  the  troops  move  off  from  the  house  as  they 
were  advancing  toward  it,  and  the  informant  also 
stated  that  the  enemy  were  in  force  behind  a  small 
strip  of  woods  in  front ;  but  so  convinced  was  the  Amer- 
ican leader  that  Fort  Schlosser  was  the  objective  point 
of  the  British  movement  that  he  would  not  credit  the 
story.  Believing  that  but  a  small  force  was  in  front, 
he  dashed  into  the  woods  to  dispel  them.  Imagine 
his  surprise  when  he  found  himself  faced  at  Lundy's 
Lane  by  Riall's  whole  force!  Scott's  position  was 
indeed  perilous.  To  advance  seemed  destruction,  to 
stand  still  would  be  equally  fatal,  while  to  retreat  would 
probably  throw  the  whole  army  into  confusion.  With 
that  resource  which  always  distinguished  him,  he 
quickly  decided  to  engage  the  enemy,  and  if  possible 
deceive  them  into  believing  that  the  whole  American 
army  was  present  while  he  sent  back  for  reinforcements. 

General  Brown  had  been  misinformed  as  to  the 


The  Second  War  with  England  283 

enemy's  movements.  No  soldiers  had  crossed  to  Lewis- 
ton,  but  the  whole  force  was  with  Riall  preparing  for 
the  present  move.  Scott  found  himself  opposed  to 
fully  eighteen  hundred  men.  The  English  lines  ex- 
tended over  the  hill  in  a  crescent  form  with  the  horns 
extending  forward.  In  its  centre  and  on  the  brow  of 
the  hill,  the  strongest  point  of  the  position,  was  placed 
a  battery  of  seven  guns.  Into  the  very  centre  of  this 
crescent  he  had  unconsciously  led  his  army. 

Scott  immediately  perceived  on  the  enemy's  left 
flank  an  unprotected  space  of  brushwood  along  the 
river  and  instantly  he  ordered  Major  Jesup  to  seize  this 
and  turn  the  flank  if  possible.  While  this  move  was 
being  accomplished  Scott's  troops  engaged  the  enemy 
in  front,  only  hoping  to  hold  the  army  in  check  until 
the  reserves  arrived. 

Jesup  was  more  than  successful.  He  turned  the  left 
flank  of  the  enemy,  gained  his  rear,  and  kept  the  re- 
inforcements sent  to  Riall's  aid  from  joining  the 
body  of  the  army.  Besides  this  he  had  captured  Riall 
himself  with  a  number  of  his  staff.  By  nine  o'clock 
at  night  Jesup  had  accomplished  this  and  in  the  mean- 
time Scott  had  beaten  back  a  fierce  charge  made  by  the 
British  right;  only  the  centre  stood  firm  now. 

Informed  of  the  true  state  of  affairs,  and  leaving 
orders  for  Ripley  to  make  all  haste  possible  with  the 
whole  reserve  force,  Brown  mounted  his  horse  and  rode 
to  the  field,  arriving  just  at  this  critical  juncture.  He 
immediately  saw  that  the  hill  crowned  with  cannon 
was  the  key  to  the  enemy's  position;  Ripley  was  ad- 
vancing along  the  Queenston  road;  Scott's  worn  men 
had  been  recalled.  The  commander  turned  to  Colonel 
Miller,   saying,    "Colonel,   take   your  regiment,   storm 


284  The  Niagara  River 

that  work,  and  take  it."  "I  '11  try,  Sir,"  said  Miller, 
and  at  once  moved  forward.  At  this  moment  the  regi- 
ment under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Nicholas,  which  was  to 
draw  the  enemy's  fire  from  Miller,  gave  way.  Nothing 
daunted,  the  young  commander,  with  three  hundred 
followers,  crept  up  the  hill  in  the  shadow  of  an  old 
rail  fence  thickly  grown  over  with  shrubbery.  In  this 
way  they  reached  unobserved  a  point  only  several  rods 
distant  from  the  enemy,  whom  they  saw  around  the 
guns  waiting  the  order  to  fire.  Resting  their  pieces 
across  the  old  fence  the  little  command  took  deliberate 
aim,  the  order  was  given  by  Miller  in  a  whisper,  a  sheet 
of  flame  broke  from  the  shrubbery,  and  not  a  man  was 
left  to  apply  a  match  to  the  British  artillery.  The  men 
then  broke  from  cover  with  a  shout  and  rushed  for- 
ward, and  all  seven  of  the  cannon  were  captured.  A 
fierce  hand-to-hand  contest  was  waged  for  a  short  time 
with  the  body  of  infantry  stationed  behind  the  guns, 
but  they  were  finally  forced  from  the  hill.  Four  dif- 
ferent attempts  were  made  to  recapture  the  position 
but  all  were  unsuccessful. 

While  these  events  were  taking  place  Scott  was 
maintaining  his  position  with  great  difficulty.  His 
regiments  were  being  literally  cut  to  pieces  and,  finally, 
he  gathered  the  remnants  into  one  mass,  formed  in  line 
for  storming,  and  had  given  the  order  to  move  forward 
when  the  battery  was  taken  by  Miller.  Scott  counter- 
manded his  order  and  returned  to  his  position  at  the 
base  of  the  hill. 

Brown  and  Scott  were  both  severely  wounded  and 
the  command  devolved  now  on  Ripley.  When  the 
battle  was  finally  won  Brown  ordered  Ripley  to  fall 
back  to  the  Chippewa  to  give  the  soldiers  a  much- 


Monument  at  Lundy's  Lane. 


The  Second  War  with  England  285 


needed  rest  during  the  night,  but  to  be  back  at 
Lundy's  Lane  by  daybreak  the  next  morning  to  obtain 
the  fruits  of  the  victory.  Day  came  and  Ripley  had 
not  moved  from  his  quarters,  but  the  British  had  re- 
turned and  the  two  armies  occupied  almost  the  same 
ground  as  before  the  battle.  Ripley  advanced  but 
the  enemy's  position  was  too  strong  to  attack,  so  he 
discreetly  returned  to  camp.  Brown  was  so  disgusted 
that  he  sent  to  Sacketts  Harbour  for  General  Gaines 
to  come  and  assume  command. 

Generals  Brown  and  Scott's  troops  were  moved 
from  the  field  supposing  that  Ripley  would  at  least 
hold  his  position.  Hardly  had  they  gotten  out  of  sight 
when  Ripley  ordered  a  retreat  to  Black  Rock.  Here 
he  was  forbidden  by  Brown  to  cross  the  river,  so  he  took 
up  a  position  above  Fort  Erie ;  at  the  same  time  the 
fortifications  were  strengthened  in  order  to  repel  the 
expected  siege. 

The  work  on  Fort  Erie  went  forward  unmolested 
until  the  3d  of  August.  Drummond  then  appeared 
before  the  fort  with  his  army,  which  had  been  resting 
at  Lundy's  Lane  since  the  battle  of  the  20th  of  July. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Tucker  was  sent  across  the  river 
with  a  body  of  troops  to  capture  Black  Rock  and  Buf- 
falo. These  were  met  so  gallantly  by  Morgan  and  his 
riflemen  that  they  were  compelled  to  return.  Drum- 
mond at  the  same  time  opened  fire  on  the  fort ;  this  was 
discontinued  until  the  seventh,  the  respite  being  spent 
by  both  parties  in  preparing  for  the  siege.  Gaines 
arrived  on  the  5th  and  assumed  command  while  Ripley 
returned  to  the  head  of  his  own  brigade.  On  the  6th 
Morgan  and  his  riflemen  attempted  to  draw  the  enemy 
from  his  trenches  but  were  unsuccessful ;  the  cannonade 


286  The  Niagara  River 

was  opened  on  the  fort  on  the  morning  of  the  7th  and 
was  continued  until  the  13th.  On  the  next  day  all  the 
guns  possible  were  brought  to  bear  on  the  fort,  causing 
its  commander  to  believe  that  an  assault  was  planned 
and  arrangements  were  made  to  receive  the  enemy. 
The  guns  were  heavily  shotted,  vigilance  of  the  guards 
doubled,  and  things  made  ready  for  the  warm  reception 
of  the  enemy.  At  midnight  of  the  14th,  all  was  still 
quiet;  a  body  of  a  hundred  men  under  Belknap  had 
been  thrown  out  toward  the  British  army  to  do  picket 
duty  as  the  night  was  so  dark  that  the  movements  of 
the  enemy  could  not  be  seen.  Their  stealthy  advance, 
though  cautious,  was  detected  by  the  sharp  ears  of  the 
waiting  men;  an  alarm  gun  was  fired  and  the  advance 
party  fell  back  toward  the  fort.  Fifteen  hundred  men 
came  charging  against  Towson's  battery  on  the  left, 
expecting  to  find  the  soldiers  asleep,  but  a  broad  sheet 
of  flame  burst  from  the  long  twenty-four  pounders  here 
which  made  the  line  waver  in  its  advance.  At  the 
same  moment  the  line  of  the  2 1st  shone  forth  in  its  own 
light,  then  all  was  darkness  except  as  the  guns  were 
loaded  and  fired.  Five  times- the  attack  was  renewed 
by  the  two  columns;  each  time  they  were  beaten  back. 

Almost  simultaneous  with  the  attack  on  the  left, 
another  was  made  on  the  American  right,  against  the 
old  fort;  this  was  repelled,  but  Drummond,  valiant 
man,  could  not  be  held  in  check,  and  under  cover  of  a 
heavy  cloud  of  smoke,  followed  by  a  hundred  of  the 
Royal  Artillery,  he  crept  silently  around  the  fort 
and  by  means  of  scaling  ladders  gained  the  parapet 
almost  unobserved.  All  attempts  to  dislodge  the 
enemy  failed.  Time  and  again  they  were  charged, 
but  each  time  they  beat  back  their  assailants.     Lieu- 


The  Second  War  with  England  287 

tenant-Colonel  Drummond  commanded  his  men  to 
give  no  quarter,  and  in  a  short  time  he  fell,  pierced 
through  the  heart  by  a  man  to  whom  he  refused  mercy. 
Daylight  dawned  with  the  enemy  repulsed  on  the  left. 
Reinforcements  were  brought  to  the  right  but  there 
was  no  room  to  use  them.  The  Americans  were  finally 
gathered  for  a  furious  charge,  when  that  part  of  the  fort 
which  the  British  had  seized  was  blown  suddenly  a 
hundred  feet  into  the  air  and  fell  in  ruins.  At  the 
same  instant  a  galling  fire  was  opened  from  the  batteries 
and  the  enemy  was  compelled  to  retire. 

Both  armies  now  received  reinforcements  and 
kept  preparing  for  a  second  engagement.  A  continual 
cannonade  was  kept  up,  when  on  the  28th  of  August 
General  Gaines  was  so  injured  by  a  shell  that  he  had 
to  retire  from  action.  General  Brown,  though  shat- 
tered in  health  then  resumed  command.  The  British 
were  continually  strengthening  their  works  and  he  saw 
that  his  only  hopes  lay  in  a  sortie.  The  weather  had 
been  rainy  which  inconvenienced  the  enemy  as  their 
works  were  located  on  the  low  ground.  Their  numbers 
had  also  been  greatly  reduced  by  fever.  These  facts 
were  learned  from  prisoners  which  had  been  captured. 
The  sortie  was  planned  for  the  17th  of  September,  all 
the  officers  acquiescing  except  General  Ripley.  The 
plan  was  laid  with  great  secrecy  and  was  favoured  by 
heavy  fog  on  the  morning  of  the  proposed  action.  The 
Americans  were  entirely  successful,  the  enemy  being 
driven  from  their  works  and  almost  all  their  supplies 
captured.  This  victory  was  hailed  with  delight  by  the 
whole  country.  This,  with  the  brilliant  achievement 
at  Plattsburg,  and  the  repulse  of  the  British  from  Balti- 
more caused  rejoicing  all  over  the  nation,  and  restored 


288  The  Niagara  River 

the  people  from  that  gloom  into  which  they  had  been 
cast  by  the  fall  of  the  national  capital. 

On  the  5th  day  of  October  General  Izard  arrived 
with  reinforcements  and  took  command.  With  almost 
eight  thousand  troops  he  now  prepared  to  attack  Drum- 
mond,  but  all  attempts  to  draw  him  out  of  his  trenches 
failed. 

Learning  that  there  was  a  large  store  of  grain  at 
the  mill  on  Lyons  Creek,  Bissell  was  sent  to  destroy  it. 
On  the  night  of  the  18th,  he  was  attacked  but  was 
successful  in  driving  off  the  enemy  and  accomplishing 
his  task.  Drummond,  now  perceiving  that  he  could 
not  hope  to  cope  successfully  with  the  superior  forces 
brought  against  him,  fell  back  to  Fort  George  and 
Burlington  Heights.  General  Izard  soon  removed  his 
whole  force  from  Canada.  On  the  5th  of  November 
Fort  Erie  was  blown  up,  to  keep  it  from  falling  again 
into  the  hands  of  the  British. 

On  September  nth,  the  brilliant  victory,  mentioned 
before,  was  gained  by  the  Americans  at  Plattsburg 
and  with  the  opening  of  winter,  the  militia  was  dis- 
banded and  the  war  closed  on  the  Canadian  frontier. 

In  1837  the  Niagara  was  again  the  scene  of  military 
operations  on  a  slight  scale  when  the  Patriot  War 
broke  out,  an  uprising  of  revolutionists  who  planned 
the  overturning  of  the  Canadian  Government.  Navy 
Island  was  for  a  time  the  headquarters  of  the  ferment, 
and  from  here,  under  the  date  of  December  1 7th,  the 
leader,  William  Lyon  Mackenzie,  issued  a  proclamation 
to  the  citizens  of  Canada.  This  strong,  misguided 
man  is  most  perfectly  described  in  Bourinot's  The 
Story  of  Canada: 

He  had  a  deep  sense  of  public  wrongs,  and  placed  himself 


The  Second  War  with  England  289 

immediately  in  the  front  rank  of  those  who  were  fighting  for  a 
redress  of  undoubted  grievances.  He  was  thoroughly  imbued 
with  the  ideas  of  English  radicalism,  and  had  an  intense  hatred 
of  Toryism  in  every  form.  He  possessed  little  of  that  strong 
common-sense  and  power  of  acquisitiveness  which  make  his 
countrymen,  as  a  rule,  so  successful  in  every  walk  of  life.  When 
he  felt  he  was  being  crushed  by  the  intriguing  and  corrupt- 
ing influences  of  the  governing  class,  aided  by  the  lieutenant- 
governor,  he  forgot  all  the  dictates  of  reason  and  prudence,  and 
was  carried  away  by  a  current  of  passion  which  ended  in  re- 
bellion. His  journal,  The  Colonial  Advocate,  showed  in  its 
articles  and  its  very  make-up  the  erratic  character  of  the  man. 
He  was  a  pungent  writer,  who  attacked  adversaries  with  great 
recklessness  of  epithet  and  accusation.  So  obnoxious  did  he 
become  to  the  governing  class  that  a  number  of  young  men, 
connected  with  the  best  families,  wrecked  his  office,  but  the 
damages  he  recovered  in  a  court  of  law  enabled  him  to  give  it 
a  new  lease  of  existence.  When  the  "family  compact"  had  a 
majority  in  the  assembly,  elected  in  1830,  he  was  expelled  five 
times  for  libellous  reflections  on  the  government  and  house, 
but  he  was  re-elected  by  the  people,  who  resented  the  wrongs 
to  which  he  was  subject,  and  became  the  first  mayor  of  Toronto, 
as  York  was  now  called.  He  carried  his  grievances  to  England, 
where  he  received  much  sympathy,  even  in  conservative  circles. 
In  a  new  legislature,  where  the  "compact"  were  in  a  minority, 
he  obtained  a  committee  to  consider  the  condition  of  provincial 
affairs.  The  result  was  a  famous  report  on  grievances  which  set 
forth  in  a  conclusive  and  able  manner  the  constitutional  diffi- 
culties under  which  the  country  laboured,  and  laid  down  clearly 
the  necessity  for  responsible  government.  It  would  have  been 
fortunate  both  for  Upper  Canada  and  Mackenzie  himself  at  this 
juncture,  had  he  and  his  followers  confined  themselves  to  a 
constitutional  agitation  on  the  lines  set  forth  in  this  report. 
By  this  time  Robert  Baldwin  and  Egerton  Ryerson,  discreet 
and  prominent  reformers,  had  much  influence,  and  were  quite 
unwilling  to  follow  Mackenzie  in  the  extreme  course  on  which 
he  had  clearly  entered.  He  lost  ground  rapidly  from  the  time 
of  his  indiscreet  publication  of  a  letter  from  Joseph  Hume,  the 
English  radical,  who  had  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  improper 


290  The  Niagara  River 

proceedings  of  the  legislature,  especially  in  expelling  Mackenzie, 
''must  hasten  the  crisis  that  was  fast  approaching  in  the  affairs 
of  Canada,  and  which  would  terminate  in  independence  and 
freedom  from  the  baneful  domination  of  the  mother-country." 
Probably  even  Mackenzie  and  his  friends  might  have  been  con- 
ciliated and  satisfied  at  the  last  moment  had  the  imperial 
government  been  served  by  an  able  and  discreet  lieutenant- 
governor.  But  never  did  the  imperial  authorities  make  a  greater 
mistake  than  when  they  sent  out  Sir  Francis  Bond  Head,  who 
had  no  political  experience  whatever. 

From  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  his  administration  he  did 
nothing  but  blunder.  He  alienated  even  the  confidence  of  the 
moderate  element  of  the  Reformers,  and  literally  threw  himself 
into  the  arms  of  the  "family  compact,"  and  assisted  them  at  the 
elections  of  the  spring  of  1836,  which  rejected  all  the  leading 
men  of  the  extreme  wing  of  the  Reform  party.  Mackenzie  was 
deeply  mortified  at  the  result,  and  determined  from  that  moment 
to  rebel  against  the  government,  which,  in  his  opinion,  had 
no  intention  of  remedying  public  grievances.  At  the  same  time 
Papineau,  with  whom  he  was  in  communication,  had  made  up 
his  mind  to  establish  a  republic,  une  nation  Canadienne,  on  the 
banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence. 

The  disloyal  intentions  of  Papineau  and  his  followers  were 
made  very  clear  by  the  various  meetings  which  were  held  in  the 
Montreal  and  Richelieu  districts,  by  the  riots  which  followed 
public  assemblages  in  the  city  of  Montreal,  by  the  names  of 
"Sons  of  Liberty"  and  "Patriots"  they  adopted  in  all  their 
proceedings,  by  the  planting  of  "trees"  and  raising  of  "caps" 
of  liberty.  Happily  for  the  best  interests  of  Canada  the  number 
of  French  Canadians  ready  to  revolt  were  relatively  insignificant, 
and  the  British  population  were  almost  exclusively  on  the  side  of 
the  government.  Bishop  Lartigue  and  the  clergy  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  now  asserted  themselves  very  determinedly 
against  the  dangerous  and  seditious  utterances  of  the  leaders 
of  the  "Patriots."  Fortunately  a  resolute,  able  soldier,  Sir  John 
Colborne,  was  called  from  Upper  Canada  to  command  the  troops 
in  the  critical  situation  of  affairs,  and  crushed  the  rebellion 
in  its  very  inception.  A  body  of  insurgents,  led  by  Dr.  Wolfred 
Nelson,  showed  some  courage  at  St.  Denis,  but  Papineau  took 


The  Second  War  with  England  291 

the  earliest  opportunity  to  find  refuge  across  the  frontier. 
Thomas  Storrow  Brown,  an  American  by  birth,  also  made  a 
stand  at  St.  Charles,  but  both  he  and  Nelson  were  easily  beaten 
by  the  regulars.  A  most  unfortunate  episode  was  the  murder 
of  Lieutenant  Wier,  who  had  been  captured  by  Nelson  while 
carrying  despatches  from  General  Colborne,  and  was  butchered 
by  some  insurgent  habitants,  in  whose  custody  he  had  been 
placed.  At  St.  Eustache  the  rebels  were  severely  punished  by 
Colborne  himself,  and  a  number  burned  to  death  in  the  steeple 
of  a  church  where  they  had  made  a  stand.  Many  prisoners  were 
taken  in  the  course  of  the  rebellious  outbreak.  The  village 
of  St.  Benoit  and  isolated  houses  elsewhere  were  destroyed  by 
the  angry  loyalists,  and  much  misery  inflicted  on  all  actual  or 
supposed  sympathisers  with  Papineau  and  Nelson.  Lord  Gos- 
ford  now  left  the  country,  and  Colborne  was  appointed  adminis- 
trator. Although  the  insurrection  practically  ended  at  St. 
Denis  and  St.  Charles,  bodies  of  rebels  and  American  marauders 
harassed  the  frontier  settlements  for  some  time,  until  at  last  the 
authorities  of  the  United  States  arrested  some  of  the  leaders  and 
forced  them  to  surrender  their  arms  and  munitions  of  war. 

The  Caroline  incident  most  closely  connects  the 
immediate  Niagara  region  with  the  Patriot  rebellion. 
This  small  steamer  was  chartered  by  Buffalo  parties 
to  run  between  that  city,  Navy  Island,  and  Schlosser, 
the  American  landing  above  the  Falls.  The  Canadian 
authorities  very  properly  looked  upon  this  as  a  bold 
attempt  to  provide  the  freebooters  on  Navy  Island 
with  the  sinews  of  rebellion.  Colonel  Allan  McNab 
was  sent  to  seize  the  vessel,  and  the  fact  that  it  was 
found  moored  at  the  American  shore  in  no  way 
troubled  the  determined  loyalists.  It  was  about 
midnight  December  29th  when  the  attacking  party 
found  the  ship.  In  the  melee  one  man  was  killed; 
the  boat  was  fired  and  set  adrift  in  the  river,  passing 
over  the  Horseshoe  Fall  while  still  partly  afire. 


Chapter  XII 

Toronto 

IT  is  believed  that  the  word  Toronto  is  of  Huron 
origin,  and  that  it  signified  "Place  of  Meeting." 
This  has  been  contested;  in  any  case  it  should 
be  spelled   To-ron-tah.     The  word  is  also  inter- 
preted as  "Oak  Trees  beside  the  Lake,"  a  derivation 
rather  divergent  from  the  above  version  and  we  must 
leave  this  to  the  learned  etymologists. 

Glancing  over  maps  of  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century  designed  after  the  Treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle 
(1748),  we  see  the  names  of  many  forts  and  posts  in- 
tended to  keep  up  "the  communications"  between 
Canada  and  Louisiana,  and  overawe  the  English  col- 
onies then  confined  to  their  narrow  strip  of  territory 
on  the  Atlantic  coast.  Conscious  of  the  mistake  that 
they  had  made  in  giving  up  Acadia,  the  French  at  this 
moment  claimed  that  its  "ancient  limits"  did  not  ex- 
tend beyond  the  isthmus  of  Chignecto — in  other  words, 
included  Nova  Scotia.  Accordingly  they  proceeded 
to  construct  the  forts  of  Gaspereau  and  Beaus^jour  on 
that  neck  of  land,  and  also  one  on  the  St.  John  River, 
so  that  they  might  control  the  land  and  sea  ap- 
proaches to  Cape  Breton  from  the  St.  Lawrence,  where 
Quebec,  enthroned  on  her  picturesque  heights,  and 
Montreal  at  the  confluence  of  the  Ottawa  and  the  St. 

292 


Toronto  293 

Lawrence,  held  the  keys  to  Canada.  The  approaches 
from  New  England  by  the  way  of  Lake  Champlain  and 
the  Richelieu  were  defended  by  the  fort  of  St.  John, 
near  the  northern  extremity  of  the  lake,  and  by  the 
more  formidable  works  known  as  Fort  Frederick  or 
Crown  Point — to  give  the  better  known  English  name — 
on  a  peninsula  at  the  narrows  towards  the  South.  The 
latter  was  the  most  advanced  post  of  the  French  until 
they  built  Fort  Ticonderoga  or  Carillon  on  a  high, 
rocky  promontory  at  the  head  of  Lake  St.  Sacrament. 
At  the  foot  of  this  lake,  associated  with  so  many 
memorable  episodes  in  American  history,  Sir  William 
Johnson  erected  Fort  William  Henry,  about  fourteen 
miles  from  Fort  Edward  or  Layman,  at  the  great  car- 
rying place  on  the  upper  waters  of  the  Hudson.  Re- 
turning to  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  Lakes,  we  find 
Fort  Frontenac  at  the  eastern  end  of  Lake  Ontario, 
where  the  old  city  of  Kingston  now  stands. 

Within  the  limits  of  the  present  city  of  Toronto, 
La  Gallissoniere  then  built  Fort  Rouille l  as  an  attempt 
to  control  the  trade  of  the  Indians  of  the  North,  who 
were  finding  their  way  to  the  English  fort  of  Oswego 
which  had  been  commenced  with  the  consent  of  the 
Iroquois  by  Governor  Burnet  of  New  York,  and  was 
now  a  menace  to  the  French  dominion  of  Lake  Ontario. 
At  the  other  extremity  lay  Fort  Niagara.  When  the 
French  were  establishing  this  chain  of  forts  or  posts 
through  the  West  and  down  the  Mississippi  valley  Fort 
Rouille  was  founded  on  a  site  even  then  commonly 

1  Named  in  honour  of  a  French  Minister  of  Colonies.  The  Rouillcs  are 
a  celebrated  family,  later  on  styled  Rouille-de-Marbceuf.  The  above- 
named  Rouille  is  highly  praised  by  St.  Simon  as  a  statesman  of  ability 
and  integrity. 


294  The  Niagara  River 

called  "Fort  Toronto."  It  does  not  seem  ever  to  have 
been  a  dominant  strategic  point;  the  probabilities  are 
there  was  no  force  stationed  here  worth  mentioning 
and,  possibly,  it  was  a  mere  dependency  of  Fort  Niag- 
ara. It  was  destroyed  in  1756  to  prevent  its  fall  into 
the  hands  of  the  English. 

Little  is  known  about  the  region  of  Toronto  prior 
to  Revolutionary  times  save  the  above  records.  It 
was  untrodden  wilderness.  But  when  the  fort  was 
erected  here  the  district  in  a  general  sense  appears  to 
have  been  known  as  "Toronto."  Under  French  do- 
minion it  was  a  royal  trading  post  and  in  the  course  of 
time  the  name  attached  itself  to  the  fort  and  village  at 
the  neighbouring  bay,  which  have  grown  to  be  the 
beautiful  Capital  City  of  Ontario.  But  the  Toronto 
of  the  river  Don  and  the  great  bay  is  strictly  of  English 
origin,  and  had  for  its  Romulus  Lieutenant-General 
Simcoe  (1 752-1806),  first  governor  of  Upper  Canada. 

When  John  Graves  Simcoe  arrived  in  Canada  in 
1 792,  the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Toronto  was  covered 
by  the  primeval  forest,  its  only  human  tenants  being 
two  or  three  families  of  wandering  savages  who  had  hap- 
pened to  select  the  spot  for  the  erection  of  their  tempo- 
rary wigwams.  One  hundred  years  later  we  find  at 
that  very  spot  a  magnificent  city  having  a  population 
of  250,000  people,  a  prosperous  and  enterprising  com- 
munity, possessed  of  all  the  comforts  and  appli- 
ances of  modern  civilisation  and  refinement, — and,  in- 
stead of  the  sombre,  impenetrable  wilderness,  the  most 
wealthy  and  populous  city  of  Upper  Canada,  with 
streets  and  private  dwellings,  and  public  edifices  that 
will  compare  favourably  with  those  of  many  other 
cities  which  have  had  centuries  for  their  development. 


Lieutenant-General  Simcoe. 


Toronto  295 

For  its  rapid  nse  to  its  present  eminence  Toronto  is 
almost  exclusively  indebted  to  its  admirable  commercial 
position,  its  advantages  in  that  respect  having  been 
appreciated  by  the  far-seeing  sagacity  of  Governor 
Simcoe,  when  selecting  the  site  for  a  capital. 

In  1 79 1,  when  the  former  province  of  Quebec  was 
divided  into  the  provinces  of  Upper  and  Lower  Canada, 
Upper  Canada  contained  about  ten  thousand  inhabi- 
tants, chiefly  Loyalists,  who,  as  noted  elsewhere,  when 
the  United  States  threw  off  allegiance  to  Great  Britain, 
sought  new  hope  in  the  wilds  of  Canada;  where,  though 
deprived  of  many  comforts,  they  had  the  satisfaction 
of  feeling  that  they  kept  inviolate  their  loyalty  to  their 
sovereign  and  preserved  their  connection  with  the 
beloved  mother  country. 

In  1792  General  Simcoe  was  appointed  Lieutenant- 
Governor  of  Upper  Canada ;  and  in  the  summer  of  that 
year  arrived  in  the  colony.  In  the  first  instance  the 
Government  was  established  at  Niagara,  and  there 
the  first  Legislature  of  Upper  Canada  was  convened 
on  the  17th  of  September,  1792.  It  was  seen,  however, 
that  from  its  position  on  the  frontier,  Niagara  was  not 
well  adapted  for  being  the  seat  of  government,  and  one 
of  the  first  subjects  which  occupied  the  attention  of 
Governor  Simcoe  was  the  selection  of  another  site  for 
a  capital.  On  this  point  he  very  soon  came  into  colli- 
sion with  the  views  of  the  Governor-General,  Lord 
Dorchester,  who  was  in  favour  of  making  Kingston  the 
capital  on  account  of  its  proximity  to  Lower  Canada 
which  he  regarded  as  a  matter  of  the  first  importance 
from  a  standpoint  of  trade,  and  also  because  of  its  pos- 
sibility of  defence,  as,  in  the  event  of  an  invasion,  troops 
from  Lower  Canada  could  be  more  easily  forwarded 


296  The  Niagara  River 

to  Kingston  than  to  a  more  westerly  point.  Governor 
Simcoe,  however,  had  visited  Toronto  Harbour,  and 
had  traversed  the  route  thence  to  Penetanguishene 
on  the  Georgian  Bay.  He  perceived  that  that  was  the 
most  advantageous  route  for  the  then  existing  North- 
west trade, — the  vast  development  of  which  since  his 
time  he  may  have  dimly  foreseen — and  that  so  soon  as 
a  road  was  opened  up  to  Lake  Simcoe  (then  Lacaux 
Claies)  merchandise  from  New  York  for  the  North-west, 
would  be  sent  by  Oswego  to  Toronto,  and  then  via 
Lake  Simcoe  to  Lake  Huron,  avoiding  the  circuitous 
passage  of  Lake  Erie.  Finally  the  Lieutenant- 
Governor's  views  prevailed,  and  the  site  of  a  town 
having  been  surveyed  on  the  margin  of  Toronto  Bay, 
his  first  step  thereafter  was  to  commence  the  construc- 
tion of  a  road  (Yonge  Street)  to  Lake  Simcoe.  In 
recent  years  the  idea  which  thus  originated  with  the 
first  governor  has  been  completely  carried  out  until 
to-day  Toronto  is,  with  Montreal,  the  chief  railway 
centre  and  the  second  city  of  the  Dominion.  How 
long  ere  it  will  outrank  its  rival? 

The  very  next  year  after  his  assumption  of  the  gov- 
ernment of  Upper  Canada  General  Simcoe  ordered  the 
survey  of  Toronto  Harbour,  and  entrusted  the  task 
to  Colonel  Bouchette,  the  Surveyor-General  of  Lower 
Canada,  who  gives  us  our  first  historical  glimpse  of 
Toronto  a  hundred  years  ago,  or  so,  in  the  following 
passage : 

It  fell  to  my  lot  to  make  the  first  survey  of  York  Harbour  in 
1793.  Lieutenant-Governor,  the  late  General  Simcoe,  who  then 
resided  at  Navy  Hall,  Niagara,  having  formed  extensive  plans  for 
the  improvement  of  the  colony,  had  resolved  upon  laying  the 
foundation  of  a  Provincial  capital.     I  was  at  that  period  in  the 


Toronto  297 

naval  service  of  the  lakes,  and  the  survey  of  Toronto  (York  Har- 
bour), was  entrusted  by  His  Excellency  to  my  performance.  I 
still  distinctly  recollect  the  untamed  aspect  which  the  country 
exhibited  when  first  I  entered  the  beautiful  basin  which  thus 
became  the  scene  of  my  early  hydrographical  operations.  Dense 
and  trackless  forests  lined  the  margin  of  the  lake,  and  reflected 
their  inverted  images  in  its  glassy  surface.  The  wandering  sav- 
age had  constructed  his  ephemeral  habitation  beneath  their 
luxuriant  foliage — the  group  then  consisting  of  two  families  of 
Missassagas — and  the  Bay  and  neighbouring  marshes  were  the 
hitherto  uninvaded  haunts  of  the  wild  fowl;  indeed  they  were  so 
abundant  as  in  some  measure  to  annoy  us  during  the  night.  In 
the  spring  following,  the  Lieutenant-Governor  removed  to  the 
site  of  the  new  capital,  attended  by  the  regiment  of  Queen's 
Rangers  and  commenced  at  once  the  realisation  of  his  favourite 
project.  His  Excellency  inhabited,  during  the  summer  and 
through  the  winter,  a  canvas  house  which  he  imported  expressly 
for  the  occasion,  but,  frail  as  was  its  substance,  it  was  rendered 
exceedingly  comfortable,  and  soon  became  as  distinguished  for 
the  social  and  urbane  hospitality  of  its  venerated  and  gracious 
host,  as  for  the  peculiarity  of  its  structure. 

Governor  Simcoe  gave  the  name  of  York  to  the 
capital  he  had  selected,  and  the  rivers  on  either  side 
received  the  names  of  the  Don  and  Humber.  His  own 
residence  he  built  at  the  brow  of  the  hill  overlooking 
the  valley  of  the  Don,  at  the  junction  of  what  was  a  few 
generations  later  Saint  James  Cemetery  with  the  pro- 
perty of  F.  Cayley,  Esq.,  calling  it  "Castle  Frank," 
the  name  which  the  property  still  retains. 

While  the  gubernatorial  residence  was  being  erected 
Governor  Simcoe  returned  to  Niagara,  where  he  opened 
the  third  session  of  the  Upper  Canada  Parliament  on 
June  20,  1794.  In  the  fall  of  that  year,  orders  were 
given  for  the  construction  of  Parliament  buildings  at 
York  on  a  site  at  the  foot  of  what  in  1857  was  Parlia- 
ment  Street,    adjoining   the   place   where   the    "gaol 


298  The  Niagara  River 

stands."  In  1795  the  Due  de  Rochefoucauld  was  in 
Upper  Canada,  and  in  his  published  Travels  alludes 
to  a  visit  paid  to  York  by  some  of  his  companions : 

During  our  stay  at  Navy  Hall,  Messrs.  Du  Petit  Thouars  and 
Guillemard,  took  the  opportunity  of  the  return  of  a  gun-boat, 
to  pay  a  visit  to  York.  Indolence,  courtesy  towards  the  Gov- 
ernor (with  whom  the  author  was  then  residing  at  Navy  Hall) , 
and  the  conviction  that  I  would  meet  with  few  objects  of  interest 
in  that  place,  combined  to  dissuade  me  from  this  journey.  My 
friends  informed  me  on  their  return,  that  this  town,  which  the 
Governor  had  fixed  upon  as  the  Capital  of  Upper  Canada,  has  a 
fine,  extensive  bay,  detached  from  the  lake  by  a  tongue  of  land 
of  unequal  breadth,  being  in  some  places  a  mile,  in  others  only 
six  score  yards  broad;  that  the  entrance  of  this  bay,  about  a 
mile  in  width,  is  obstructed  in  the  middle  by  a  shoal  or  sand-bank, 
the  narrow  passages  on  each  side  of  which  may  be  easily  de- 
fended by  works  erected  on  the  two  points  of  land  at  the  entrance, 
on  which  two  block-houses  have  already  been  constructed;  that 
this  bay  is  two  miles  and  a  half  long,  and  a  mile  wide,  and  that  the 
elevation  of  its  banks  greatly  increases  its  capability  of  defence 
by  fortifications  thrown  up  at  convenient  points.  There  have 
not  been  more  than  a  dozen  houses  built  hitherto  in  York,  and 
these  are  situated  in  the  inner  extremity  of  the  bay,  near  the 
river  Don.  The  inhabitants,  it  is  said,  do  not  possess  the  fairest 
character.  One  of  them  is  the  noted  Batzy,  the  leader  of  the 
German  families,  whom  Captain  Williamson  accuses  the  English 
of  decoying  away  from  him,  in  order  to  injure  and  obstruct  the 
prosperity  of  his  settlement.  The  barracks  which  are  occupied 
by  the  Governor's  Regiment,  stand  on  the  bay  near  the  lake, 
about  two  miles  from  the  town.  The  Indians  are  for  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  round  the  sole  neighbours  of  York. 

Nothing  shows  better  than  this  that  we  must  re- 
member that  Old  World  measurements  of  growth  and 
cultural  life  cannot  be  applied  to  the  condition  of  a 
new  continent  where  every  foot  of  land  had  to  be  taken 
from  the  aborigines,  a  continent  in  its  agricultural  in- 


Toronto  299 

fancy,  devastated  by  wars,  changing  ownership  thrice 
within  one  hundred  years.  The  Indians  in  the  district 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  around  Toronto  have  been 
replaced  to-day  by  a  million  of  people  as  enterprising 
as  they  can  be  found  on  the  surface  of  the  globe.  In 
lieu  of  the  dozen  huts  described  by  our  noble  writer 
in  1795,  you  will  find  to-day  a  city  of  a  quarter  million 
inhabitants,  steamships,  railroads,  telegraph,  electric 
light— the  "City  of  Churches." 

Toronto,  as  noted,  owes  the  progress  it  has  made 
almost  entirely  to  its  advantageous  commercial  posi- 
tion, which  was  the  chief  circumstance  that  originally 
weighed  with  General  Simcoe  in  selecting  this  as  a  site 
for  the  capital  of  Upper  Canada.  The  city  is  built  on 
a  slope,  rising  with  a  very  slight  inclination  from  the 
bay,  sufficient  to  secure  its  salubrity,  and  to  admit  of 
a  complete  system  of  sewerage ;  but  not  enough  to  give 
its  architectural  beauties  the  advantage  they  deserve 
to  gratify  the  aesthetic  taste  which  would  be  disposed 
to  seek  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Ontario  for  a  parallel  to 
the  grand  old  cities  of  Europe. 

Governor  Simcoe's  amenities  and  hospitalities,  his 
simplicity,  his  cares  and  troubles  are  all  parts  of  the 
early  history  of  the  province;  his  administration  in 
Canada  has  been  generally  commended,  despite  the 
displays  of  prejudice  against  the  United  States.  His 
schemes  for  improving  the  province  were  "extremely 
wise  and  well  arranged."  But  his  stay  was  abruptly 
cut  short.  It  seems  to-day  that  England  was  fearful 
he  might  involve  the  mother-country  in  a  new  war 
with  the  young  Republic  and  he  was  rather  hastily 
recalled  to  England  in  1796,  although  at  the  same  time 
promoted  a  full  lieutenant-general  in  the  army. 


300  The  Niagara  River 

In  1804  a  census  of  the  inhabitants  of  Toronto  was 
taken,  and  it  was  found  that  they  numbered  456.  At 
that  time  the  town  was  bounded  by  Berkeley  Street 
on  the  east,  Lot,  now  Queen  Street  on  the  north,  and 
New,  now  Nelson  Street  on  the  west.  In  1806,  Toronto 
or  York  was  visited  by  George  Heriot,  Esq.,  Deputy 
Postmaster-General  of  British  North  America,  and 
from  the  terms  in  which  he  speaks  of  it  in  his  Travels 
through  the  Canadas,  it  appears  that  it  had  then  made 
considerable  progress.     He  says : 

Many  houses  display  a  considerable  progress.  The  advance- 
ment of  this  place  to  its  present  condition  has  been  effected  within 
the  lapse  of  six  or  seven  years,  and  persons  who  have  formerly 
travelled  in  this  part  of  the  country,  are  impressed  with  senti- 
ments of  wonder,  on  beholding  a  town  which  may  be  termed 
handsome,  reared  as  if  by  enchantment  in  the  midst  of  a 
wilderness. 

The  Parliament  buildings,  when  Heriot  visited 
Toronto,  were  two  buildings  of  brick,  at  the  eastern 
extremity  of  the  town,  which  had  been  designed  as 
wings  to  a  centre,  and  which  were  occupied  as  cham- 
bers for  the  Upper  and  Lower  House  of  Assembly. 

In  1807  the  inhabitants  numbered  1058,  and  con- 
tinued slowly  to  rise  till  18 13,  when  the  American  War 
brought  calamities  on  to  Toronto,  from  the  disastrous 
effects  of  which  it  took  more  than  a  decade  to  recover. 

In  1 8 13  the  campaigns  of  the  war  centred,  as  we 
have  seen,  around  Lake  Erie.  The  Navy  had  lately 
restored  American  confidence,  and  a  second  invasion 
of  Canada  was  a  principal  feature  in  the  programme. 
At  the  middle  of  April  Dearborn  and  Chauncey  matured 
a  plan  of  operations.  A  joint  land  and  naval  expedi- 
tion was  proposed,  to  first  capture  York,  and  then  to 


Toronto  301 

cross  Lake  Ontario  and  reduce  Fort  George.  At  the 
same  time  troops  were  to  cross  the  Niagara,  from  Buf- 
falo and  Black  Rock,  capture  Fort  Erie  and  Chippewa, 
join  the  fleet  and  army  at  Fort  George,  and  all  proceed 
to  attack  Kingston.  Everything  being  arranged,  Dear- 
born embarked  about  1700  men  on  Chauncey's  fleet, 
at  Sacketts  Harbour  on  the  2 2d  of  April,  and  on  the 
25th  the  fleet,  crowded  with  soldiers,  sailed  for  York. 
After  a  boisterous  voyage  it  appeared  before  the  little 
town  early  in  the  morning  of  the  27th,  when  General 
Dearborn,  suffering  from  ill  health,  placed  the  land 
forces  under  charge  of  General  Pike,  and  resolved  to 
remain  on  board  the  Commodore's  flagship  during  the 
attack. 

The  little  village  of  York,  numbering  somewhat 
more  than  one  thousand  inhabitants  at  the  time,  was 
then  chiefly  at  the  bottom  of  the  bay  near  a  marshy  flat, 
through  which  the  Don,  coming  down  from  the  beauti- 
ful fertile  valleys,  flowed  sluggishly  into  Lake  Ontario, 
and,  because  of  the  softness  of  the  earth  there,  it  was 
often  called  "Muddy  Little  York."  It  gradually  grew 
to  the  westward,  and,  while  deserting  the  Don,  it  wooed 
the  Humber,  once  a  famous  salmon  stream,  that  flows 
into  a  broad  bay  two  or  three  miles  west  of  Toronto. 
In  that  direction  stood  the  remains  of  old  Fort  Toronto, 
erected  by  the  French.  On  the  shore  eastward  of  it, 
between  the  present  new  barracks  and  the  city,  were 
two  batteries,  the  most  easterly  one  being  in  the  form 
of  a  crescent.  A  little  farther  east,  on  the  borders  of 
a  deep  ravine  and  small  stream,  was  a  picketed  block- 
house, some  intrenchments  with  cannon,  and  a  garri- 
son of  about  eight  hundred  men  under  Major-General 
Sheaffe.     On   "Gibraltar    Point,"   the  extreme   west- 


302  The  Niagara  River 

ern  arm  of  the  peninsula,  that  embraced  the  harbour 
with  its  protecting  arm,  was  a  small  blockhouse;  an- 
other stood  on  the  high  east  bank  of  the  Don,  just 
beyond  a  bridge  at  the  eastern  termination  of  King 
and  Queen  streets.  These  defences  had  been  strangely 
neglected.  Some  of  the  cannon  were  without  trun- 
nions, others,  destined  for  the  war- vessel  then  on  the 
stocks,  were  in  frozen  mud  and  half  covered  with  snow. 
Fortunately  for  the  garrison,  the  Duke  of  Gloucester 
was  then  in  port,  undergoing  some  repairs,  and  her  guns 
furnished  some  armament  for  the  batteries.  These, 
however,  only  amounted  to  a  few  six-pounders.  The 
whole  country  around,  excepting  a  few  spots  on  the 
lake  shore,  was  covered  with  a  dense  forest. 

On  the  day  when  the  expedition  sailed  from  Sack- 
etts  Harbour  General  Pike  issued  minute  instructions 
concerning  the  manner  of  landing  and  attack. 

It  is  expected  [he  said]  that  every  corps  will  be  mindful  of  the 
honour  of  the  American,  and  the  disgraces  which  have  recently 
tarnished  our  arms,  and  endeavour,  by  a  cool  and  determined 
discharge  of  their  duty,  to  support  the  one  and  wipe  off  the  other. 
[He  continued:]  The  unoffending  citizens  of  Canada  are  many  of 
them  our  own  countrymen,  and  the  poor  Canadians  have  been 
forced  into  the  war.  Their  property,  therefore,  must  be  held 
sacred;  and  any  soldier  who  shall  so  far  neglect  the  honour  of  his 
profession  as  to  be  guilty  of  plundering  the  inhabitants,  shall,  if 
convicted,  be  punished  with  death.  But  the  commanding  gen- 
eral assures  the  troops  that,  should  they  capture  a  large  quan- 
tity of  public  stores,  he  will  use  his  best  endeavours  to  procure 
them  a  reward  from  his  government. 

It  was  intended  to  land  at  a  clearing  near  old  Fort 
Toronto.  An  easterly  wind,  blowing  with  violence, 
drove  the  small  boats  in  which  the  troops  left  the  fleet 
full  half  a  mile  farther  westward,  and  beyond  an  effect- 


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Toronto  3°3 

ual  covering  by  the  guns  of  the  navy.  Major  Forsyth 
and  his  riflemen,  in  two  bateaux  led  the  van,  and  when 
within  rifle  shot  of  the  shore  they  were  assailed  by  a 
deadly  volley  of  bullets  by  a  company  of  Glengary 
Fencibles  and  a  party  of  Indians  under  Major  Givens, 
who  were  concealed  in  the  woods  that  fringe  the  shore. 
"  Rest  on  your  oars !  Prime ! ' '  said  Forsyth  in  a  low  tone. 
Pike,  standing  on  the  deck  of  the  Madison,  saw  this 
halting,  and  impatiently  exclaimed,  with  an  expletive: 
"I  cannot  stay  here  any  longer!  Come,"  he  said,  ad- 
dressing his  staff,  "jump  into  the  boat."  He  was 
instantly  obeyed,  and  very  soon  they  and  their  gallant 
commander  were  in  the  midst  of  a  fight,  for  Forsyth's 
men  had  opened  fire,  and  the  enemy  at  the  shore  were 
returning  it  briskly.  The  vanguard  soon  landed,  and 
were  immediately  followed,  in  support,  by  Major  King 
and  a  battalion  of  infantry.  Pike  and  the  main  body 
soon  followed,  and  the  whole  column,  consisting  of  the 
Sixth,  Fifteenth,  Sixteenth,  and  Twenty-First  Regi- 
ments of  Infantry,  and  detachments  of  light  and  heavy 
artillery,  with  Major  Forsyth's  riflemen  and  Lieutenant 
McClure's  volunteers  as  flankers,  pressed  forward  into 
the  woods. 

The  British  skirmishes  meanwhile  had  been  re- 
enforced  by  two  companies  of  the  Eighth  or  King's 
Regiment  of  Regulars,  two  hundred  strong,  a  company 
of  the  Royal  Newfoundland  Regiment,  a  large  body  of 
militia,  and  some  Indians.  They  took  position  in  the 
woods,  and  were  soon  encountered  by  the  advancing 
Americans,  whose  artillery  it  was  difficult  to  move. 
Perceiving  this,  the  British,  led  by  General  Sheaffe  in 
person,  attacked  the  American  flank  with  a  six-pounder 
and  howitzer.     A  very  sharp  conflict  ensued,  and  both 


304  The  Niagara  River 

parties  suffered  much.  Captain  McNeil,  of  the  King's 
Regiment,  was  killed.  The  British  were  overpowered, 
and  fell  back,  when  General  Pike,  at  the  head  of  the 
American  column,  ordered  his  bugler  to  sound,  and  at 
the  same  time  dashed  gallantly  forward.  That  bugle 
blast  thrilled  like  electric  fire  along  the  nerves  of  the 
Indians.  They  gave  one  horrid  yell,  then  fled  like 
frightened  deer  to  cover,  deep  into  the  forest.  That 
bugle  blast  was  heard  in  the  fleet,  in  the  face  of  the  wind 
and  high  above  the  voices  of  the  gale,  and  evoked  long 
and  loud  responsive  cheers.  At  the  same  time  Chaun- 
cey  was  sending  to  the  shore,  under  the  direction  of 
Commander  Elliott,  something  more  effective  than 
huzzas  for  he  was  hurling  deadly  grape-shot  upon  the 
foe,  which  added  to  the  consternation  of  the  savages, 
and  gave  fleetness  to  their  feet.  They  also  hastened 
the  retreat  of  Sheaffe's  white  troops  to  their  defences 
in  the  direction  of  the  village,  while  the  drum  and  fife 
of  the  pursuers  were  briskly  playing  Yankee  Doodle. 

The  Americans  now  pressed  forward  rapidly  along 
the  lake  shore  in  platoons  by  sections.  They  were 
not  allowed  to  load  their  muskets,  and  were  compelled 
to  rely  upon  the  bayonet.  Because  of  many  ravines 
and  little  streams  the  artillery  was  moved  with  diffi- 
culty, for  the  enemy  had  destroyed  the  bridges.  By 
great  exertions  a  field-piece  and  a  howitzer,  under 
Lieutenant  Fanning,  of  the  Third  Artillery,  was 
moved  steadily  with  the  column.  As  that  column 
emerged  from  thick  woods,  flanked  by  McClure's  vol- 
unteers, divided  equally  as  light  troops  under  Colonel 
Ripley,  it  was  confronted  by  twenty-four  pounders 
on  the  Western  Battery.  Upon  this  battery  the 
guns  of  some  of  Chauncey's  vessels  which  had  beat 


Toronto  3°5 

up  against  the  wind  in  range  of  the  enemy's  works 
were  pouring  heavy  shot.  Captain  Walworth  was  or- 
dered to  storm  it  with  his  grenadiers,  of  the  Sixteenth. 
They  immediately  trailed  their  arms,  quickened  their 
pace,  and  were  about  to  charge,  when  the  wooden 
magazine  of  the  battery,  that  had  been  carelessly  left 
open,  blew  up,  killing  some  of  the  men,  and  seriously 
damaging  the  defences.  The  dismayed  enemy  spiked 
their  cannon,  and  fled  to  the  next,  or  Half-Moon,  Battery. 
Walworth  pressed  forward;  when  that,  too,  was  aban- 
doned and  he  found  nothing  within  but  spiked  cannon. 
Sheaffe  and  his  little  army,  deserted  by  the  Indians, 
fled  to  the  garrison  near  the  Governor's  house,  and 
there  opened  a  fire  of  round  and  grape-shot  upon  the 
Americans.  Pike  ordered  his  troops  to  halt,  and  lie 
flat  upon  the  grass,  while  Major  Eustis,  with  his  artil- 
lery-battery moved  to  the  front,  and  soon  silenced 
the  great  guns  of  the  enemy. 

The  firing  from  the  garrison  ceased,  and  the  Americans  ex- 
pected every  moment  to  see  a  white  flag  displayed  from  the  block- 
house in  token  of  surrender.  Lieutenant  Riddle,  whose  corps 
had  brought  up  the  prisoners  taken  in  the  woods,  was  sent  for- 
ward with  a  small  party  to  reconnoitre.  General  Pike,  who  had 
just  assisted  with  his  own  hands  in  removing  a  wounded  soldier 
to  a  comfortable  place,  was  sitting  upon  a  stump  conversing  with 
a  huge  British  sergeant  who  had  been  taken  prisoner,  his  staff 
standing  around  him.  At  that  moment  was  felt  a  sudden  tremor 
of  the  ground,  followed  by  a  tremendous  explosion  near  the  Brit- 
ish garrison.  The  enemy,  despairing  of  holding  the  place,  had 
blown  up  their  powder  magazine,  situated  upon  the  edge  of  the 
water  at  the  mouth  of  a  ravine,  near  where  the  buildings  of  the 
Great  Western  Railway  now  stand.  The  effect  was  terrible. 
Fragments  of  timber  and  huge  stone  of  which  the  magazine 
walls  were  built  were  scattered  in  every  direction  over  a  space 
of  several  hundred  yards.     When  the  smoke  floated  away  the 


306  The  Niagara  River 

scene  was  appalling.  Fifty-two  Americans  lay  dead,  and  one 
hundred  and  eighty  others  were  wounded.  So  badly  had  the 
affair  been  managed  that  forty  of  the  British  also  lost  their  lives 
by  the  explosion.  General  Pike,  two  of  his  aids,  and  the  Brit- 
ish sergeant  were  mortally  hurt,  while  Riddle  and  his  party 
were  unhurt,  the  missiles  passing  entirely  over  them.  The  terri- 
fied Americans  scattered  in  dismay,  but  they  were  soon  rallied 
by  Brigade-Major  Hunt  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Mitchell.  The 
column  was  re-formed  and  the  general  command  was  assumed 
by  the  gallant  Pennsylvanian  colonel,  Cromwell  Pearce,  of  the 
Sixteenth,  the  senior  officer.  After  giving  three  cheers,  the  troops 
pressed  forward  toward  the  village,  and  were  met  by  the  civil  au- 
thorities and  militia  officers  with  propositions  of  a  capitulation  in 
response  to  a  peremptory  demand  for  surrender  made  by  Colonel 
Pearce.  An  arrangement  was  concluded  for  an  absolute  surren- 
der, when,  taking  advantage  of  the  confusion  that  succeeded  the 
explosion,  and  the  time  intentionally  consumed  in  the  capitula- 
tion, General  Sheaffe  and  a  large  portion  of  his  regulars,  after 
destroying  the  vessels  on  the  stocks,  and  some  storehouses  and 
their  contents,  stole  across  the  Don,  and  fled  along  Dundas  Street 
toward  Kingston.  When  several  miles  from  York  they  met  a 
portion  of  the  King's  Regiment  on  their  way  to  Fort  George. 
These  turned  back,  covered  Sheaffe's  retreat,  and  all  reached 
Kingston  in  safety.  Sheaffe  (who  was  the  military  successor  of 
Brock)  was  severely  censured  for  the  loss  of  York.  He  was  soon 
afterward  superseded  in  command  in  Upper  Canada  by  Major- 
General  De  Rottenburg  and  retired  to  Montreal  to  take  com- 
mand of  the  troops  there. 

On  hearing  of  the  death  of  General  Pike,  General 
Dearborn  went  on  shore,  and  assumed  command  after 
the  capitulation.  At  sunset  the  work  was  finished; 
both  Chauncey  and  Dearborn  wrote  brief  despatches 
to  the  government  at  Washington;  the  former  saying: 
"We  are  in  full  possession  of  the  place,"  and  the  lat- 
ter: "I  have  the  satisfaction  to  inform  you  that  the 
American  flag  is  flying  upon  the  fort  at  York."  The 
post,  with  about  two  hundred  and  ninety  prisoners  be- 


Toronto  307 

sides  the  militia,  the  war  vessel  Duke  of  Gloucester,  and 
a  large  quantity  of  naval  and  military  stores,  passed  into 
the  possession  of  the  Americans.  Such  of  the  latter 
as  could  not  be  carried  away  by  the  squadron  were 
destroyed.  Before  the  victors  left,  the  public  buildings 
were  fired  by  some  unknown  hand,  and  consumed. 

Four  days  after  the  capitulation,  the  troops  were 
re-embarked,  preparatory  to  a  descent  upon  Fort 
George.  The  post  and  village  of  York,  possessing  little 
value  to  the  Americans,  were  abandoned.  The  British 
repossessed  themselves  of  the  spot,  built  another  block- 
house, and  on  the  site  of  the  garrison  constructed  a 
regular  fortification. 

The  loss  of  the  Americans  in  the  capture  of  York 
was  sixty-six  killed  and  two  hundred  and  three  wounded 
on  land,  and  seventeen  killed  and  wounded  on  the  ves- 
sels. The  British  lost,  besides  the  prisoners,  sixty 
killed  and  eighty-nine  wounded.  General  Pike  was 
crushed  beneath  a  heavy  mass  of  stones  that  struck 
him  in  the  back.  He  was  carried  immediately  after 
discovery  to  the  water's  edge,  placed  in  a  boat,  and  con- 
veyed first  on  board  the  Pert,  and  then  to  the  Commo- 
dore's flagship.  Just  as  the  surgeons  and  attendants, 
with  the  wounded  general,  reached  the  little  boat,  the 
huzzas  of  the  troops  fell  upon  his  benumbed  ears. 
"  What  does  it  mean? "  he  feebly  asked.  "  Victory,"  said 
a  sergeant  in  attendance.  "The  British  union-jack  is 
coming  down  from  the  blockhouse,  and  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  are  going  up."  The  dying  hero's  face  was  illu- 
minated by  a  smile  of  great  joy.  His  spirit  lingered 
several  hours,  and  then  departed.  Just  before  his 
breath  ceased  the  captured  British  flag  was  brought  to 
him.     He  made  a  sign  for  them  to  place  it  under  his 


308  The  Niagara  River 

head,  and  thus  he  expired.  His  body  was  taken  to 
Sacketts  Harbour,  and  with  that  of  his  pupil  and  aid, 
Captain  Nicholson,  was  buried  with  military  honours 
within  Fort  Tompkins  there. 

It  was  not  till  1821  that  the  town  recovered  from 
these  disasters,  and  then  the  population  only  amounted 
to  1559.  In  1830  it  was  2860;  but  in  1834,  a  strong 
tide  of  emigration  into  Canada  having  set  in,  the  popu- 
lation increased  to  9254.  In  that  year  the  town  was 
incorporated  as  a  city,  and  Mr.  William  Lyon  Macken- 
zie was  elected  the  first  mayor  of  Toronto,  April  3, 
1834.  In  1838  the  inhabitants  numbered  12,571;  in 
1848,  15,336;  in  1861'they  had  increased  to  44,821;  in 
1871,  to  56,039;  in  1881,  86,415;  in  1891,  181,220;  and 
finally,  in  1903,  to  266,989. 

In  1 82 1,  E.  A.  Talbot,  the  author  of  some  works  of 
travel1  visited  the  town.  He  states  that  the  public 
edifices  at  that  time  were  a  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  ("a  wooden  building  with  a  wooden  belfry"), 
a  Roman  Catholic  Chapel  (a  brick  building  "not  then 
completed,  but  intended  to  be  very  magnificent" — the 
present  St.  Paul's  Church  in  Power  Street),  a  Pres- 
byterian Meeting  House  (a  brick  building,  occupying 
the  site  of  what  is  now  Knox's  Church),  a  Methodist 
Meeting  House,  situated  in  a  field,  nearly  on  the  present 
site  of  the  Globe  office,  the  Hospital  (the  brick  building 
on  King  Street  now  known  as  the  Old  Hospital,  and 
occupied  as  Government  offices),  which  Talbot  de- 
scribes as  the  most  important  building  of  the  province, 
"bearing  a  very  fine  exterior,"  the  Parliament  House 
(a  brick  building  erected  in  1820  on  the  former  site,  and 
destroyed  by  fire  in   1824),  and  the  residence  of  the 

1  Five  Years'  Residence  in  the  Canadas. 


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Toronto  309 

Lieutenant-Governor,  a  wooden  building,  "inferior  to 
several  private  houses  of  the  town,  particularly  that 
of  Rev.  Dr.  Strachan,"  says  Talbot.  The  streets,  he 
adds,  are  regularly  laid  out,  but  "only  one  of  them  is 
in  a  finished  state,  and  in  wet  weather  those  of  them 
which  are  unfinished,  are  if  possible  more  muddy  than 
the  streets  of  Kingston." 

How  different  to-day,  when  Toronto  has  been  called 
the  "City  of  Churches,"  because  of  the  large  num- 
ber of  fine  churches  that  have  been  erected  in  it! 
The  distinctive  feature  of  church  architecture  in  To- 
ronto consists  in  the  fact  that  all  denominations  have 
built  a  considerable  number  of  fine  churches  instead  of 
concentrating  their  efforts  on  the  erection  of  a  few  of 
greater  magnificence.  The  large  churches  are  not  con- 
fined to  the  central  portion  but  are  found  widely  dis- 
tributed throughout.  Toronto  to-day  is  the  see  of 
both  Anglican  and  Roman  Catholic  archbishops.  The 
city  has  suffered  from  destructive  conflagrations,  nota- 
bly in  1890,  and  in  April,  1904,  when  more  than  one 
hundred  buildings  in  the  wholesale  business  section 
were  burned  down,  some  five  thousand  persons  were 
thrown  out  of  work,  and  about  eleven  millions'  worth 
of  property  was  destroyed. 

The  year  1866  is  a  memorable  one  in  the  history 
of  Toronto  as  well  as  all  Canada  as  the  year  of  the 
Fenian  raids.  The  Toronto  regiments  of  volunteers 
were  promptly  sent  to  drive  the  Fenians  out  of  the 
Niagara  peninsula.  The  "Queen's  Own"  met  the  en- 
emy at  Ridgeway,  and  sustained  a  loss  of  seven  killed 
and  twenty-three  wounded.  The  beautiful  monument 
erected  to  the  memory  of  those  who  fell  at  Ridgeway  is 
decorated  each  year  on  June  2d  by  their  comrades  and 


310  The  Niagara  River 

by  the  school  children  of  the  city.  Another  monument 
in  Queen's  Park  commemorates  the  loyalty  and  bravery 
of  Toronto  volunteers.  It  records  the  gallantry  of 
those  who  were  killed  during  the  North-west  rebellion 
of  1885. 

Toronto  is  a  notable  educational  centre.  The 
university  is  one  of  the  best  equipped  in  America. 
The  first  step  towards  its  establishment  was  taken  as 
early  as  1797,  but  the  university  was  not  founded  until 
1827,  chartered  and  endowed  somewhat  later,  and 
opened  for  students  in  1843.  Until  then  it  had  rather 
a  sectarian  character,  but  nowadays  it  embraces,  be- 
sides the  four  principal  faculties,  the  following  institu- 
tions: Ontario  Agricultural  College,  Royal  College  of 
Dental  Surgeons,  the  College  of  Pharmacy,  the  Toronto 
College  of  Music,  the  School  of  Practical  Science,  and 
the  Ontario  Veterinary  College.  The  students  in 
1905-06  numbered  2547.  The  University  buildings,  it 
is  said,  are  the  best  specimen  of  Norman  architecture 
in  America.  The  most  beautiful  other  public  buildings 
of  Toronto  are:  the  new  Parliament  buildings,  the  new 
City  Hall,  Osgood  Hall,  the  Seat  of  the  Provincial 
Courts  and  Law  School,  Trinity  University,  McMaster 
University,  the  Normal  School,  Upper  Canada  College, 
and  the  Provincial  Asylum. 

Toronto  is  pre-eminently  a  city  of  homes.  It  claims 
to  have  a  larger  proportion  of  good  homes  and  a  much 
smaller  proportion  of  saloons  than  any  city  of  its  size 
in  America.  One  of  the  gratifying  features  of  Toronto 
that  distinguishes  it  from  most  large  cities  is  the  fact 
that  there  is  no  part  of  the  city  that  can  be  fairly 
regarded  as  a  "slum"  district. 

The  city  covers  a  very  large  area  so  that  there  is 


Toronto  311 

no  overcrowding.  Working  men  have  no  difficulty  in 
obtaining  homes  with  separate  gardens,  and  it  is  a 
common  practice  to  use  these  gardens  in  growing  both 
flowers  and  vegetables. 

The  Park  System  is  extensive  and  beautiful,  possess- 
ing about  1350  acres,  the  chief  being  Queen's  Park, 
adjoining  the  university,  and  the  extensive  High  Park 
on  the  west  of  the  city.  But  the  most  popular  is  proba- 
bly Island  Park,  on  Hiawatha  Island,  which  lies  imme- 
diately in  front  of  the  city  in  the  form  of  a  crescent 
about  three  miles  in  length. 

The  following  great  Canadians  were  born  in  Toronto : 
Professor  Egerton  Ryerson;  Sir  John  MacDonald;  Sir 
Daniel  Wilson;  Reverend  Wm.  Morley  Puncheon; 
Hon.  George  Brown;  Sir  Oliver  Mowat;  but  the  most 
widely  known  Toronto  citizen  is  probably  Goldwin 
Smith,  the  great  historian  and  economist.  Toronto 
has  ever  shown  itself  fervently  British  in  sentiment. 
Its  later  history  has  been  purely  civic  without  other 
interest  than  that  attaching  to  prosperous  growth.  A 
pleasant  society  and  an  attractive  situation  make  it 
a  favourite  place  of  residence. 

In  the  first  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century,  there 
was  a  certain  Mr.  Hetherington  in  Toronto,  one  of  the 
clerks  of  St.  James.  Now  the  music  of  those  primitive 
times  seems  to  have  been  managed  altogether  after 
the  old  country  village  choirs.  Mr.  Hetherington  was 
wont,  after  giving  out  the  Psalm,  to  play  the  air  on  a 
bassoon ;  and  then  to  accompany  with  fantasias  on  the 
same  instrument,  when  any  vocalist  could  be  found  to 
take  the  singing  in  hand.  By-and-by  the  first  symp- 
toms of  progress  are  apparent  in  the  addition  of  a  bass- 
viol  and  clarinet  to  help  Mr.  Hetherington's  bassoon 


312  The  Niagara  River 

"the  harbinger  and  foreshadow,"  as  Dr.  Scadding 
says,  "  of  the  magnificent  organ  presented  in  after-times 
to  the  congregation  of  the  '  Second  Temple  of  St.  James' 
by  Mr.  Dunn,  but  destroyed  by  fire,  together  with  the 
whole  church,  in  1839,  after  only  two  years  of  existence. " 

Incidents  of  a  different  character  no  less  strongly 
mark  the  changes  which  a  period  of  only  ninety  years 
has  witnessed.  In  181 1,  namely,  we  find  William 
Jarvis,  Esq.,  His  Excellency's  Secretary,  lodging  a 
complaint  in  open  court  against  a  negro  boy  and  girl, 
his  slaves.  The  Parliament  at  Newark  had,  indeed, 
enacted  in  1793 — in  those  patriarchal  days  already  de- 
scribed, when  they  could  settle  the  affairs  of  the  young 
province  under  the  shade  of  an  umbrageous  tree — that 
no  more  slaves  should  be  introduced  into  Upper  Canada, 
and  that  all  slave  children  born  after  the  9th  of  July 
of  that  year  should  be  free  on  attaining  the  age  of 
twenty-five. 

But  even  by  this  creditable  enactment  slavery  had 
a  lease  of  life  of  fully  a  quarter  of  a  century  longer,  and 
the  Gazette  Public  Advertiser,  and  other  journals,  con- 
tinue for  years  thereafter  to  exhibit  such  announce- 
ments as  this  of  the  Hon.  Peter  Russell,  President  of 
the  Legislative  Council,  of  date,  February  19,  1806: 
"To  be  sold:  a  black  woman,  named  Peggy,  aged  forty 
years,  and  a  black  boy,  her  son,  named  Jupiter,  aged 
about  fifteen  years."  The  advertisement  goes  on  to 
describe  the  virtues  of  Peggy  and  Jupiter.  Peggy  is  a 
tolerable  cook  and  washerwoman,  perfectly  understands 
making  soap  and  candles,  and  may  be  had  for  one  hund- 
red and  fifty  dollars,  payable  in  three  years,  with  in- 
terest, from  the  day  of  sale.  Jupiter,  having  various 
acquirements  besides  his  specialty  as  a  good  house  serv- 


Toronto  sj3 

ant,  is  offered  for  two  hundred  dollars,  but  a  fourth 
less  will  be  taken  for  ready  money.  So  recently  as  1 8  7 1 , 
John  Baker,  who  had  been  brought  to  Canada  as  the 
slave  of  Solicitor-General  Gray,  died  at  Cornwall,  Onta- 
rio, in  extreme  old  age.  But  before  that  the  very 
memory  of  slavery  had  died  out  in  Canada;  and  it  long 
formed  the  refuge  which  the  fugitive  slave  made  for, 
with  no  other  guide  than  the  pole-star  of  our  northern 
sky. 

The  history  of  Toronto,  as  already  noted,  is  neces- 
sarily to  a  great  extent  that  of  the  province,  and  of  the 
whole  region  of  Canada. 

Upper  Canada  [says  Dr.  Scadding],  in  miniature,  and  in  the 
space  of  a  century,  curiously  passed  through  conditions  and  pro- 
cesses, physical  and  social,  which  old  countries  on  a  large  scale, 
and  in  the  course  of  long  ages  passed  through.  Upper  Canada 
had  its  primeval  and  barbaric,  but  heroic  age,  its  mediaeval  and 
high  prerogative  era ;  and  then,  after  a  revolutionary  period  of  a 
few  weeks,  its  modern,  defeudalised,  democratic  era. 


Index 


Abbott,  Francis,  the  "Hermit  of 

Niagara,"  40 
Abercrombie,    Sir     Ralph,     Brock 

under,  232 
Allen,  Ethan,  mentioned,  222 
Allen,  Sadie,  shoots  the  Rapids,  139 
"American     Blondin,"     the,      see 

Calverly 
American  Canals,  Great,  see  Hulbert 
American  Civic  Association    men- 
tioned, 119 
Amherst,  Sir  Jeffrey,  campaign  of 

1759,  209 
Anderson,  M.  B.,  on  first  Niagara 

Commission,  80 
"Angevine  place,"  building-site  of 

Griffon  181 


B 


Bakewell's  estimate  of  Niagara's 
age,  65 

Balleni,  tight-rope  artist,  130 

Barton,  J.  L.,  reminiscences  of  early 
Buffalo,  7 

Bath  Island,  76 

Biddle  Stairs,  32 

Bird  Island,  30,  76 

Black  Rock,  origin  of  name,  8 

Blondin,  career  of,  123-129;  W.  D. 
Howells's  description  of,  127-128 

Blossom,  I.  A.,  agent  of  Holland 
Land  Co.,  7 

Bourinot,  Dr.,  quoted,  159-160, 
288-291 

Braddock,  plans  to  capture  Ft. 
Niagara,  206-207 

Brock,  Gen.  Isaac,  sketch  of  life, 
231-238;  replies  to  Hull's  Pro- 
clamation, 244-246;  captures 
Hull,  246-253;  relations  with  the 
Indians,  252-253;  death,  256; 
eulogies,  257-262;  monuments 
to,  48,  259-262 

Brodie,  "Steve,"  goes  over  the 
Falls,  137 


Browne,  G.  W.,  on  St.  Lawrence, 
4,  161;  on  De  Nonville  at  Ni- 
agara, 187-189 

Brule  on  Niagara  frontier,   165 

Buckley,  A.  B.,  Fairyland  of 
Science,  cited,  168 

Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  growth  of,  4-8 

Buffalo  Historical  Society  men- 
tioned, 6 

Burnt  Ship  Bay,  10,  212 

Burton  Act  for  preservation  of 
Niagara,  11 6-1 20 


Calverly,    C.    M.,   the    "American 

Blondin,"  132 
Campbell,  W.  G.,  Niagara  crank, 

149 
Canada  (Story  of  the  Nations),  see 

Bourinot, 
Canadian  Niagara  Falls  Power  Co., 

104,  112,  117 
Canals,  Great  American,  see  Hulbert 
Cantilever  bridge,  46 
Caroline,  the,  incident,  291 
Cassier's  Magazine  quoted,  121 
Cataract  House,  the,   75 
"  Cave  of  the  Winds,"  the,  28,31-33 
Cayuga  Creek  mentioned,  10 
Celoron  at  Niagara,  203 
Century  Magazine   quoted,  29,  42- 

44 

Champlain  on  Niagara  frontier, 
158-163 

Chippewa  Creek,  46;  battle  of, 
279  seq. 

Chrystie,  Col.,  in  War  of  181 2,  264 

Church's  "Niagara"  mentioned,  14 

Clark,  George  Rogers,  compared 
with  Brock,  249 

Clark,  Dr.  John  M.,  on  "destruc- 
tion of  Niagara,  "117 

Colcourt,  Henry,  Blondin's  assis- 
tant, 125 

Colour  of  Niagara  water  explained 
by  Mrs.  Van  Rensselaer,  42-44 


3i5 


316 


Index 


Commissioners  of  N.  Y.  State  Res- 
ervation, first  report  of,  82  seq. 
Crystal  Palace,  Blondin  at,  128 
Cutter,  O.  W.,  Niagara  committee- 
man, 89 


D 


Dallion,  Father,  at  Niagara,  166 

"Darting  Lines  of  Spray"  ex- 
plained, 45 

Day,  D.  A.,  report,  17 

Dearborn,  Gen.,  in  War  of  181 2, 
274  seq. 

De  Leon,  "Prof.,"  Niagara  crank, 

De  Nonville,  Gov.,  on  Niagara 
frontier,  186-194 

"Destruction  of  Niagara"  dis- 
cussed, no— 120 

De  Troyes  at  Fort  Niagara,  190-194 

"Devil's  Hole,"  49;  massacre,  214- 

215 
Dittrick,  W.,  Niagara  crank,  148 
Dixon,  S.  J.,  tight-rope  artist,  132 
Dogs  go  over  Falls,  1 51-15  2 
Dorsheimer,  William,  on  first  Ni- 
agara Commission,  80;  presents 
the  park  to  New  York  State,  92 
Dufferin  Islands,  46 


E 


Electrical  Development  Co.,  117 

Ellicott,  Andrew,  estimates  Ni- 
agara's age,  63 

Erie  Canal,  importance  to  Niagara 
frontier,  6 

Evershed,  Thomas,  devises  wheel- 
pits,  101 

F 

Farini,  Signor,  tight-rope  artist,  129 

Flack,  R.  W.,  killed  in  race  in 
Niagara  River,  148 

Fool-Killer,  see  Nissen. 

Forts:  Chippewa,  46;  Drummond, 
48;  du  Portage,  15;  Erie,  8; 
battle  of,  285  seq.;  Frontenac, 
17,  170;  George,  50,  274-276; 
Niagara,  the  first,  189-194;  build- 
ing, 197-202;  during  French  War 
and  Revolution,  204-229;  Sir 
William  Johnson  captures,  278; 
Rouille,  293;  Schlosser,  15 

Fuller,  Margaret,  describes  Ni- 
agara by  night,  12;  on  Goat 
Island  flora,  18;  quoted,  28 


Galinee  on  Niagara  frontier,  166 

Geology  of  Niagara,  52  seq. 

Goat  Island,  16-19,  25,  29,  40,  74 

Golden  Book  of  Niagara,  names  in 
the,  79 

Gorge  of  Niagara,  its  history,  63 
seq. 

Graham,  C.  D.,  performs  at  Niag- 
ara, 137 

Gravelet,  see  Blondin 

Gray,  Dr.  Asa,  on  Goat  Island 
flora,  16 

Great  Lakes,  drainage,  3 

Green,  A.  H.,  on  first  Niagara 
Commission,  80 

Green  Island,  30 

Griffon,  the,  built  at  La  Salle,  N. 
Y.',  180-186.     See  Remington 

Gull  Island,  40 


H 


Hall,   Capt.   Basil,   experiment   at 

Niagara,  34 
Hall,  Prof.  James,  survey  of  Falls, 

65 
Hardy,  J.  E.,  tight-rope  artist,  132 
Hazlett,  George,  Niagara  crank,  139 
"Heart  of  Niagara,"  38,  45 
Hennepin,  Father,  Narrative,  quo- 
ted, 168, 173-184 
Hennepin's  View,  21 
Heriot,  George,  quoted,  300 
"Hermit  of  Niagara,"  see  Abbott 
"Hermit's  Cascade,"  40 
Hill,    Gov.    D.    B.,    signs    Niagara 

Reservation  Bill,  81 
Historic     Highways     of     America, 

cited,  206 
Historic  Towns  of  the  Middle  West, 

quoted,  5 
Holland   Land   Co.,   mentioned,    7 
Hooker,  Sir  J.,  on  Goat  Island,  16 
Houghton,    George,    "The    Upper 

Rapids,"  quoted,  13 
How  Niagara  was  Made  Free,  see 

Welch 
Howells,  W.  D.,  quoted,  28,  29,  72- 

73,  74,  127-128 
Hulbert,  A.  B.,  The  Ohio  River, 
cited,  3,  4;  Great  American 
Canals,  cited,  6;  Historic  High- 
ways, cited,  206 
Hull,  General,  surrenders  to  Brock, 
243.  277-279 


Index 


317 


Hunt,    William    M.,    painting    of 

Niagara,  14 
Hunter,    Colin,    view    of    Niagara 

rapids,  11 


Ice  Age,  Niagara  in  the,  58-59 
Ice  Bridge,  39 
Inspiration  Point,  44 
International  Railway  Co.,  117 
Iris  Island,  see  Goat  Island 
Iroquois,   dominate  Niagara  fron- 
tier, 1 53  seq. ;  Hennepin's  embassy 
to,  177-180 


Jay's  treaty,  225-226 

Jenkins,  I.  J.,  tight-rope  artist,  131 

Johnson,  Sir  William,  captures 
Fort  Niagara,  21 1-2 13;  treaty  at 
Fort  Niagara,  215-216 

Joncaire,  Chabert,  erects  "Maga- 
zine Royale"  197-200 


K 


Kendall,  W.  I.,  swims  Niagara 
rapids,  136 

King,  Alphonse,  performs  at  Ni- 
agara, 136-7 


La  Belle  Famille,  see  Youngstown, 
N.  Y. 

La  Salle,  on  Niagara  frontier,  170- 
186 

La  Salle  N.  Y.,  the  Griffon  built  at, 

T    ^3 

Lewiston  Heights,  50,  264-265 

Life  and  Correspondence  of  Major- 
General  Sir  Isaac  Brock,  K.  B., 
see  Tupper 

Life  and  Times  of  General  Brock, 
see  Read 

Luna  Island,  31 

Lundy's  Lane,  46;  battle  of,  282 

Lyell,  Sir  Charles,  estimates  Ni- 
agara's age,  65 


M 


Mackenzie,  William  Lyon,  Bouri- 

not  describes,  288 
' '  MagazineRoyale,  "Joncaire  builds, 

197—200 


Mahany,  R.  B.,  in  Historic  Towns 

of  the  Middle  States,   5 
Maid    of    the    Mist,    44;     voyage 

through  lower  rapids.  144-146 
Manchester,     see     Niagara     Falls, 

N.  Y. 
Mars,  Tesla's  project  to  signal,  120 
Marshall,  O.   H.,  mentioned,    157, 

187,  194-195,  219 
Matheson,    James,    advocates     re- 
clamation of  Niagara,  77 
Michigan,  brig,  sent  over  the  Falls, 

133 
Milet,  Father,  at  Fort  Niagara,  193 
Mohawk  River  in  the  Ice  Age,  60 
Montresor,  Capt.,  blockhouse,  15 
Morgan,  William,  mentioned,   202 


N 


Nation,  The,  on  the  "desecration 

of  Niagara,"  78 
Neuter    Nation     first    inhabit    Ni- 
agara frontier,  156  seq. 
Newark,  see    Niagara-on-the  Lake 
"New  Jerusalem,"  Major  Noah's,  9 
New  York  State  Reservation,  his- 
tory of,  77-96 
New    York   Times,   on   opening  of 

New  York  Reservation,  94—95 
Niagara  Book,  The,  cited,  28 
Niagara    Falls,    N.    Y.,    described, 

96-98 
Niagara  Falls  Hydraulic  Power  and 
Manufacturing  Co.,  102,  104,  no, 
1 1 1— 1 12,1 18— 1 19 
Niagara  Falls  Power  Co.,  10 1,  104, 

in— 112,  118— 1 19 
Niagara,     Lockport,    and    Ontario 

Power  Co.,  114-115 
Niagara-on-the-Lake,  50,  227-230 
Niagara  Reservation  Act,  79-82,  84 
Niagara  River,  historic  importance, 
2 ;  drainage  area,  2-4 ;  description 
of  the  upper,  8-22;  upper  rapids 
of,  10-15;  islands  of,  12-22;  his- 
toric sites  of  upper,  14-16;  Falls 
of,  20  seq.; bridges  over,  21  seq.; 
music  of,  24-27;  Howells  on 
repose  of,  28;  air  pressure  at 
Falls  of,  34-37;  when  dry,  38;  in 
winter,  39;  changes  in,  41-42; 
Mrs.  Van  Rensselaer  on  colour  of, 
42-44 ;  view  of,  from  Queen Victo- 
riaPark,44;  a  tour  around,  20-51 ; 
the  lower,  described,  46-51;  the 
geology  of,  52-71;  recession  of 
Falls  of,  63-7 1 ;  George  Frederick 


3z8 


Index 


Niagara  River — (Continued) 

Wright  on  age  of,  66-70;  during 
era  of  private  ownership,  72-77; 
struggle  for  passage  of  "  Reserva- 
tion Act,"  77-82;  Golden  Book 
of,  names  in,  79;  as  producer  of 
power,  99-122;  volume  of,  99; 
tunnel  beneath,  106;  manufac- 
turing companies,  use  of, tii-i  13, 
117;  use  of  water  of,  discussed, 
111-122;  Burton  Act  concern- 
ing, Taft  on,  117— 120;  Blondin, 
career  on,  123-129;  performances 
of  cranks  on,  129-152  (see  Farini, 
Dixon,  Webb,  Graham,  etc.), 
Maid  of  the  Mist  sails  lower, 
144-146;  controlled  by  Iroquois, 
153-156;  Neuter  Nation  inhabit 
banks  of,  156-157;  French  occu- 
pation of,  158-213;  Cartier  hears 
of,  165;  described  by  Galinee, 
166-167;  Hennepin  describes,  167 
seq.;  reached  by  La  Salle,  173— 
186;  the  Griffon  built  on,  181  seq.; 
first  fort  built  on,  189;  sufferings 
of  first  French  troops  on,  1 91-194; 
name  of,  discussed  by  Marshall, 
194-195;  Joncaire  on, 197-198;  in 
Old  French  War,  200  seq.;  French 
lose,  209-212;  in  Revolutionary 
War,  217-226;  fixed  as  inter- 
national boundary  line,  223-226; 
Loyalists  settle  upon,  227  seq.; 
in  the  War  of  181 2,  263  seq. 

Nissen,  Peter,  exploits  at  Niagara, 
149-15 1 

Noah,  Maj.N.N.,"  New  Jerusalem," 

9 

0 

Official  opening  of  New  York  Res- 
ervation, 85-95 
Ohio  River,  The,  see  Hulbert 
"Old  Indian  Ladder,"  46 
Old  Stone  Chimney  mentioned,  15 
Olmsted,    F.    A.,    on   Goat    Island 
flora,   16-18;  mentioned,  77-78, 

119. 
Ontario  Power  Co.,  104,  108,  112, 

117 
Ottawa  River,  in  Ice  Age,  63 


Papineau  in  Patriot  War,  290 
Parkman's  works  quoted,  171,  seq. 
Patch,  Sam,  jumps  at  Niagara,  133 
Patriot  War,  Bourinot  on  the,  288- 
291  ' 


Peere,    Stephen,   tight-rope   artist, 

131    „ 
Percy,  C.  A.,  goes  through  rapids, 

146-149 

Perry,  Lieut.  O.  H.,  captures  Fort 
George,  274-276 

Pike  at  the  capture  of  York,  302  seq. 

Pittsburg  Reduction  and  Mining 
Co.,  118 

Piatt,  John  J.,  mentioned,  80 

Portage,  old  Niagara,  15,18 

Porter's  Bluff,  23 

Porter,  Judge,  37,  38,  96 

Porter,  Hon.  Peter  A.,  Guide  Book, 
11;  Old  Fort  Niagara,  11,  197, 
200, 207—209,  213 ;  Goat  Island,  1 1 , 
19;  on  proposed  attack  on  Fort 
Niagara  in  1755,  207-209;  on 
commercial  importance  of  Fort 
Niagara,  213-214 

Potts,  William,  Niagara  crank,  139 

Pouchot,  Gen.,  surrenders  Fort 
Niagara,  209-213 

Poughkeepsie  Eagle   quoted,  80 

Power  development  at  Niagara, 
99—122 

Prideaux,  Gen.  John,  captures  Fort 
Niagara,  209  seq. 

Prospect  Point,  20,  21 

Q 

"Quebec  Act,"  effect  of,  217-218 
Queen  Victoria  Park,  44,  108 
Queen's  Royal  Hotel,  51 
Queenston,  50 

Queenston  Heights,  48;  battle  on, 
263  seq. 

R 

Rapids  of  Niagara,  11—15,  22»  45» 
46,  49-50;  Hunter's  painting  of, 
11,14 

Read,  D.  B.,  The  Life  and  Times  of 
General  Brock,  cited,  232 

Red  Jacket,  anecdote  of,  22 

Reed,  Andrew,  suggests  reclama- 
tion of  Niagara,  77 

Remington,  C.  K.,  on  the  building- 
site  of  the  Griffon,  183 

Road  to  Frontenac,  The,  mentioned, 
162 

Robb,  J.  H.,  on  first  Niagara  Com- 
mission, 80 

Robinson,  Joel,  sails  the  Maid  of 
the  Mist  through  lower  rapids, 
144—146 

Rogers,  Sherman  S.,  on  first  Ni- 
agara Commission,  80 


Index 


3:9 


St.  Davids,  Ont.,  in  the  history  of 

geologic  Niagara,  63 
St.  Lawrence  drainage,  3 
St.  Lawrence  River,  George  Waldo 

Browne  on,  4 
Schlosser,  Capt.,  15,  213;  see  Fort 

Schlosser 
Scott,    Gen.    Winfield,   in   War  of 

1812,  267  seq. 
Scribner's  Monthly  quoted,  25 
Senecas  dominate  Niagara  frontier,  5 
Severance,  F.  H.,  Old  Trails  of  the 

Niagara  Frontier,   6,    219—222 
Sheaffe,  Gen.,  mentioned,  268  seq. 
Ship  Island,  30 
"Shipyard    of    the    Griffon,"    the, 

see  Remington 
Shirley,  Gov.,  plans  Niagara  attack 

207 
"Shoreless  Sea,"  the,  45 
Silliman,  Prof.,  Basil  Hall  writes, 

.34-35 

Simcoe,  Gov.,  John  Graves,  men- 
tioned, 229,  294  seq. 

Smyth,  Gen.,  in  War  of  1812,  271 
seq . 

Spelterini,  Signorina,  tight- rope  ar- 
tist, 130 

Spencer,  J.  W.,  estimates  Niagara's 
age,  66 

Spouting  Rock,  41 

Steadman  Bluff,  30 

Steadman,  John,  first  owner  of 
Goat  Island,  18 

Steel  arch  bridge,  built  by  Roeb- 
ling,  46 

Story  of  Canada,  The,  by  Bourinot, 
quoted,  288-291 

Sullivan's  campaign  of    1779,  223 


Table  Rock,  38,  45 

Taft,  Sec'y_  William  H.,  on  the 
"destruction  of  Niagara,"  117— 
120 

Talbot,  E.  A.,  description  of  early 
Toronto,  308 

Taylor,  Mrs.  A.  E.,  barrel-fiend, 
141-143 

Tempest  Point,  104 

Terrapin  Rocks,  ^^,  37-38 

Terrapin  Tower,  ^^,  37 

Tesla,  Nikola,  on  Niagara  elec- 
trical power,  120 

Thayer,  Eugene,  on  the  music  of 
Niagara,  25-26 


Thompson,  Sir  William,  prophesies 

era  of  electricity,  77 
Three  Sister  Island,  40 
Tonawanda,  N.  Y.,  mentioned,  10 
Toronto,  Ont.,  51;  history  of,  292- 

3*3 
Toronto  and   Niagara   Power  Co., 

104,   105,  112,   121 
Tupper,  Ferdinand  Brock,  The  Life 

and    Correspondence    of    Major- 

General  Sir  Isaac  Brock,    K.  B., 

cited,  232 
Tyndall,  Prof.,  on  Terrapin  Rocks, 

33 

U 

United  Empire  Loyalists,  228 
Upper  Canada,  and  Lower,  divided, 

295 

V 

Van  Rensselaer,  Mrs.  Schuyler,  on 
Niagara,  quoted,  24,  27,  42-44 

Van  Rensselaer,  Col.  Solomon, 
264-266 

Van  Rensselaer,  Gen.  Stephen,  263 

Victoria  Falls  compared  with  Ni- 
agara Falls,  13 


W 


Wagenfuhrer,  Martha  E.,  barrel- 
crank  at   Niagara,    140 

War  of  1 81 2,  263-291 

Webb,  Capt.  Matthew,  drowned  at 
Niagara,  134-135 

Welch,  Thomas  V.,  labours  to  en- 
franchise Niagara,  79;  How  Ni- 
agara was  Made  Free,  cited,  79— 
82;   mentioned,    81,    89 

Whirlpool,  the,  47,  50 

Whitney,  Gen.  P.,  40 

Willard,  Maud,  Niagara  crank, 
killed,  140 

Woodward,  Prof.,  surveys  Niagara 
Falls,  65 

Wool,  Capt.,  hero  of  Queenston 
Heights,  265  seq. 

Wright,  Dr.  Geo.  Frederick,  makes 
new  estimate  of  Niagara's  age, 
66-70 

Y 

York,    Ont.,    Americans    capture, 

300—306 
York    Harbour,    early   description, 

296—297 
Youngstown,  N.  Y.,  50;  skirmish  at, 


Jt  Selection  from  the 
Catalogue  of 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 


Complete  Catalogues   sent 
on  application 


The  Ohio  River 


A  Course  of  Empire 
By  Archer  Butler  Hulbert 

Associate  Professor  of  American  History,  Marietta  Col- 
lege.    Author  of  "  Historic  Highways  of  America,"  etc. 

Large  Octavo  with  ioo  Full-Page  Illustrations  and  a 
Map.     Net,     $3.50.      By    express,  prepaid,    $3.75 

AN  interesting  description  from  a  fresh  point  of 
view  of  the  international  struggle  which  ended 
with  the  English  conquest  of  the  Ohio  Basin,  and 
includes  many  interesting  details  of  the  pioneer  movement 
on  the  Ohio.  The  most  widely  read  students  of  the  Ohio 
Valley  will  find  a  unique  and  unexpected  interest  in  Mr. 
Hulbert's  chapters  dealing  with  the  Ohio  River  in  the 
Revolution,  the  rise  of  the  cities  of  Pittsburg,  Cincin- 
nati, and  Louisville,  the  fighting  Virginians,  the  old-time 
methods  of  navigation,  etc.  The  work  presents  in  a  con- 
secutive narrative  the  most  important  historic  incidents 
connected  with  the  river,  combined  with  descriptions  of 
some  of  its  most  picturesque  scenery  and  delightful 
excursions  into  its  legendary  lore. 

Sead  for  Illustrated  Deacrptive  Circular 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 

New  York  London 


The  St  Lawrence  River 

Historical        Legendary        Picturesque 
By  George  Waldo  Browne 

Author  of  "  Japan  —  the  Place  and  the  People*' 
"  Paradise  of  the  Pacific,"  etc. 

<P°.     Fully  Illustrated.     Uniform  with  "The  Hudson 
River."     Net,  fij.50.     By  express, prepaid,  fij.75 


WHILE  the  St.  Lawrence  River  has  been  the 
scene  of  many  important  events  connected 
with  the  discovery  and  development  of  a 
large  portion  of  North  America,  no  attempt  has  here- 
tofore been  made  to  collect  and  embody  in  one  volume 
a  complete  and  comprehensive  narrative  of  this  great 
waterway.  This  is  not  denying  that  considerable 
has  been  written  relating  to  it,  but  the  various  offer- 
ings have  been  scattered  through  many  volumes,  and 
most  of  these  have  become  inaccessible  to  the  general 
reader. 

This  work  presents  in  a  single  volume  a  succinct  and 
unbroken  account  of  the  most  important  historic  in- 
cidents connected  with  the  river,  combined  with 
descriptions  of  some  of  its  most  picturesque  scenery 
and  frequent  selections  from  its  prolific  sources  of 
legends  and  traditions.  In  producing  the  hundred 
illustrations  care  has  been  taken  to  give  as  wide  a 
scope  as  possible  to  the  views  belonging  to  the 
river. 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S   SONS 

New  York  London 


The  Hudson  River  from 
Ocean  to  Source  :  :  :  *  : 

Historical        Legendary         Picturesque 
By  Edgar  Mayhew  Bacon 

Author  of  "  Chronicles  of  Tarrytown,"  etc. 

Large  8° ,  with  over  ioo  illustrations. 
Net,  $4.50.     By  express,  prepaid,  $4.75. 

NO  stream  in  America  is  so  rich  in  legends  and 
historic  associations  as  the  Hudson.  From 
ocean  to  source  every  mile  of  it  is  crowded 
with  reminders  of  the  early  explorers,  of  the  Indian  wars, 
of  the  struggle  of  the  colonies,  and  of  the  quaint,  peace- 
ful village  existence  along  its  banks  in  the  early  days  of 
the  Republic.  Before  the  explorers  came,  the  river 
figured  to  a  great  extent  in  the  legendary  history  of  the 
Indian  tribes  of  the  East.  Mr.  Bacon  is  well  equipped 
for  the  undertaking  of  a  book  of  this  sort,  and  the  story 
he  tells  is  of  national  interest. 

The  volume  is  illustrated  with  views  taken  especially 
for  this  work  and  with  many  rare  old  prints  now  first 
published  in  book  form. 

G.    P.    PUTNAM'S    SONS 

New  York  London 


The  Connecticut    River 

and  the  Valley   of  the   Connecticut  :    : 

Three  Hundred  and  Fifty  Miles 
from  Mountain  to  Sea    : 

By  Edwin  Munroe  Bacon 

Author  of  "  Historical  Pilgrimages  in  New  England  " 
"  Literary  Pilgrimages  in  New  England,"  etc. 

8°.     Fully  Illustrated.      Net,  $3.50 
By  express,  prepaid,   Sj-7S 


THE  Connecticut  River  may  perhaps  with  more 
propriety  than  any  other  in  the  world  be 
named  the  Beautiful  River.  From  Stuart 
to  the  Sound  it  uniformly  maintains  this  character. 
The  purity,  salubrity,  and  sweetness  of  its  waters; 
the  frequency  and  elegance  of  its  meanders;  its  ab- 
solute freedom  from  all  aquatic  vegetables;  the  un- 
common and  universal  beauty  of  its  banks,  here  a 
smooth  and  winding  beach,  there  covered  with  rich 
verdure,  now  fringed  with  bushes,  now  covered  with 
lofty  trees,  and  now  formed  by  the  intruding  hill,  the 
rude  bluff,  and  the  shaggy  mountain, — are  objects 
which  no  traveller  can  thoroughly  describe,  and  no 
reader  can  adequately  imagine. 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S   SONS 

New  York  London 


The  Romance  of  the 
Colorado   River    :    :    : 

A  Complete  Account  of  the  Discovery  and  of  the 
Explorations  from  Z540  to  the  Present  Time, 
with  Particular  Reference  to  the  two  Voyages  of 
Powell  through  the  Line  of  the  Great  Canyons 

By  Frederick  S.  Dellenbaugh 

8°,  with  200  Illustrations,  net,  $3.50.     By  mail,  $3.75 


"  As  graphic  and  as  interesting  as  a  novel.  .  .  .  Of  especial  value 
to  the  average  reader  is  the  multiplicity  of  pictures.  They  occur  on 
almost  every  page,  and  while  the  text  is  always  clear,  these  pictures 
give,  from  a  single  glance,  an  idea  of  the  vastness  of  the  canyons  and 
their  remarkable  formation,  which  it  would  be  beyond  the  power  of 
pen  to  describe.  And  the  color  reproduction  of  the  water-color  draw- 
ing that  Thomas  Moran  made  of  the  entrance  to  Bright  Angel  Trail 
gives  some  faint  idea  of  the  glories  of  color  which  have  made  the 
Grand  Canyon  the  wonder  and  the  admiration  of  the  world." — The 
Cleveland  Leader. 

"  His  scientific  training,  his  long  experience  in  this  region,  and  his 
eye  for  natural  scenery  enable  him  to  make  this  account  of  the  Col- 
orado River  most  graphic  and  interesting.  No  other  book  equally 
good  can  be  written  for  many  years  to  come — not  until  our  knowl- 
edge of  the  river  is  greatly  enlarged. " —  The  Boston  Herald. 


SEND  FOR  ILLUSTRATED  DESCRIPTIVE  CIRCULAR 

G.    P.    PUTNAM'S     SONS 

New  York  London 


NARRAGANSETT  BAY 

Its  Historic   and  Romantic  Asso- 
ciations   and   Picturesque    Setting 

The  Legends  and  Associations  connected  with  Newport 
and  the  old  town  of  Narragansett  Bay 

By  Edgar  Mayhew  Bacon 

Author  of  "  The  Hudson  River  from  Ocean  to  Source  " 

Large  8°  Fully  Illustrated.      Uniform  with  the  "Hudson 
River."     Net,  $3.50.     By  express,  $3.75. 

IMPRESSED  by  the  important  and  singular  part 
played  by  the  settlers  of  Narragansett  in  the  devel- 
opment of  American  ideas  and  ideals,  and  strongly 
attracted  by  the  romantic  tales  that  are  inwoven  with 
the  warp  of  history,  as  well  as  by  the  incomparable  set- 
ting the  great  bay  affords  for  such  a  subject,  the  author 
offers  this  result  of  his  labor  as  a  contribution  to  the 
story  of  great  American  Waterways,  with  the  hope  that 
his  readers  may  be  imbued  with  somewhat  of  his  own 
enthusiasm. 

"  An  attractive  description  of  the  picturesque  part  of  Rhode 
Island.  Mr.  Bacon  dwells  on  the  natural  beauties,  the  legendary 
and  historical  associations,  rather  than  the  present  appearance  of  the 
shores." — N.  Y.  Sun. 

G.   P.  PUTNAM'S   SONS 

New  York  London 


ill  ii  iiiiii  mi  mi  mi  mi  111 111  iiiiii  mi 


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